Born to Die
by lluxx
Summary: An ex-CIA agent with a cripple leg and a slight addiction has caught the eye of Daryl Dixon during a fight for survival. And, he's caught hers. Daryl Dixon/OC
1. I

_**Just a heads up, this is my first walking fanfiction. I LOVE the show, and Daryl has always been my favorite character mostly becasue of his humor. I don't know about you but he always cracks me up. Anyways, this story isn't going to be a repeat of all the previous episodes with the same dialogue and stuff, I wanna play around with somethings to keep it interesting. Anyways, yeah! Hope you enjoy! :)**_

* * *

**Born to Die **

**Part ****I  
**

The camp headed for the CDC. It was decided. The pack traveled in their vehicles in a straight line. Odette and her best friend sat in her (dirty) metallic infinite and followed Dale's RV heading towards the building. It was very silent during the drive. The two of them had always been so close, that sitting and not talking about anything was odd for them, but they were in no mood to talk. They had witnessed too much death for one night, and they tried to keep their kind off of it by keeping to themselves.

Odette was the youngest out of the two, but when it came to reality she was the most experienced. She was an ex marine, and a "compromised" CIA agent. During her days of training for the government she was taught high end medical care, which really came in handy for her and everyone else around.

Beside her was her best friend, Brie. Who up until now was a journalist working for New York Times. The two had been friends since their first day in middle school, and have been inseparable since then. They had each others back, and trusted each other with their lives.

Hours later they finally made it into the city where they found the CDC building. Though many thought that no one was in there, Rick Grimes was determined to prove them wrong.

Ever since she was a young teenager, Odette always thought in the way of a pessimist. But, now more than ever, she hoped, that the Someone in the building would hear their pleas. She knew someone was in their. There always is.

The headquarters of the CIA over in the states in DC had been overrun. Or rather, the agents (that hadn't been laid off) used their places and helicopter to try and make a debt in the situation. And, they did, but many died in the process. Before long headquarters had been taken over by the walkers.

"Please! We're desperate!" Rick shouted over and over again. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Hello! I know that someone's in there! I see the cameras moving, and I know that you're hesitant in letting us come in. See that window over there? I know it's designed to withstand gunshots, rocks, heavy weight you name it! But a bomb, is something that does blow the windows open. No I have one right here!" Odette said as she pulled out a small ticking bomb that Rick was once given "and if you don't open these doors the. Well just have to blow the window up. Imagine the amount of walkers that would end up inside. If you open up and let us in, none of that will have to h-"

The doors opened. Odette laughed slightly in shock, And walked in with the others.

They were greeted by a scientist. Jenner. Who decided to let them stay in the center. He asked that everyone take a blood test to make sure that no one in their group had been infected. Together, they ate their dinner in the kitchen. And for the first time in a long time, Odette wasn't eating Daryl's squirrels.

The table that majority of everyone were sitting at was crowded. Brie, Odette, Daryl ate around the counter while Jenner sat In a chair in the corner of the room.

"You know," Odette began as she ate some of the rice and chicken stir fry, "after eating those squirrels for such a long time, this meal feels like I'm at LA market." She said which made Brie laugh Daryl just rolled his eyes and took a swig of beer.

"You'll be begging for my squirrels one day." Daryl said with a smirk. " I'd like to see you catch so many squirrels in one hunt trip." He added.

" Yeah, but you haven't even tried this, I'm telling you, I didn't think I'd ever get to try rice again."

" Yeah well, all I'm hungry for now Is this." He said gesturing to his bottle.

" Whatever. Brie," Odette turned to her, " remember when we went on that trip to Europe, and we went wine and cheese tasting in Montmartre and Naples? And you were picky with your cheese?" She reminded her. Brie nodded and blushed slightly. "Wait here." Odette said. She left the dining area and limped her way deeper into the kitchen where she found what she needed.

"Look. Try it." She said. She cut a piece off for Brie and one for Daryl just cause he was there.

"It's pretty good. What kind is it?" Brie asked her.

"Brie cheese." Odette said. " I call it forced cannibalism." She joked. Brie took another piece and tried it with her red wine, "It tastes great with the wine." She said.

"I bet it tastes better with beer." Daryl butted in.

* * *

After dinner Jenner gave them all a tour of the CDC. He showed them to the bedrooms, the rec room, the lab etc. but, what really excited them all was the fact they had showers available- with hot water. Which always beat bathing in a lake.

Odette managed to get to the showers first joke everyone else were still eating and getting drunk with excitement. She grabbed her extra pair of cloths, her cane and her Vicodin just in case, and headed for the showers.

As soon as she stepped into the shower she felt relaxed for the first time in a long time. The hot water eased up her tense muscles, and the large gash that she on her leg stung a little at first cause of the water. However, the pain lasted a short while. Odette stayed under the water for a while, lathering her body with scented body wash and washed her hair. She hadn't smelt this good in weeks.

Once she was finished, Odette dried herself off with her towel and then wrapped it around herself. The towel was pretty short, it didn't cover up the old gash that she had higher up on her thigh. She didn't mind as much though, people would be too drunk to see it. Odette brushed her wet golden honey locks and then turned around to see Daryl Dixon walking in to take his shower.

Those few seconds were awkward. Odette's towel started to slip off. She pulled it back up which exposed her old gash on her thigh completely. She watched as Daryl eyes traveled down to her thigh where he could see a huge gash like bruise. His stayed and stared a second longer than they should have.

"Er- I just came to take a quick shower. I'll see you later." he said gruffly heading towards the showers that were in the opposite direction. Odette watched as he walked away, then quickly grabbed her cane and cloths, leaving her container of Vicodin behind accidentally.

* * *

After Odette changed into a clean pair of dark jeans, and a black and white striped long shirt, she headed towards the Rec room where she found Carol with the kids. Odette greeted them by giving them a small smile.

"Hey guys. Whats new?" Odette said, cringing just slightly. The pain in her leg was getting worse. The Vicodin always helped, but she had no idea how long they would last for, so she would only take one when things got pretty bad. Now, would be one of those times, but, she decided to give it sometime.

"Carol's just keeping us some company." Carl answered. Sophia remained silent. In Odette's mind, she had always been one of those shy and quiet kids, but ever since the death of her father, she had been quieter than usual.

"I think it's time for the two of you to head off to bed." Carol said. She kissed her daughter and Carl and Sofia both left. "I just wanted to thank you." Carol said as soon as they left. Odette furrowed her brows and limped her way to the couch so that she could sit beside Carol.

"I'm sorry. I don't follow." Odette said with her voice full of confusion.

"What you did out there, to get us in. I really appreciate it and I know everyone else is really grateful. Especially Rick." She added in, "None of us really believed in this plan, but you really came through." She said with a smile. Odette nodded and laughed a little.

"Yeah well, in case you haven't noticed, sometimes Rick can bite off more than he can chew. And Shane, is 'brother' is definitely no help." She added. Odette cringed again and then began soothing her thigh with her gash to help with the pain.

"Your leg. It's hurting isn't it?" Odette smiled slightly.

"It always is. I'm just- taking the least amount of drugs I can so that they last longer." She said biting her lip, "I'd take it now but, I can't find my Vicodin anywhere. I take with me everywhere, and now I have no idea where I put it though." she said a little frustrated.

"I'll keep an eye out. I better get going, Sofia still finds this place a little creepy. Good night." Carol said getting up.

"Night."

Odette headed towards the bookshelf. It wasn't that far from the couch, but it was still a slight challenge with the amount of pain in her leg. She started browsing through the many books that it held. Dale, was kind enough to let her read some of the books that he kept in his RV, but Odette had already read a lot of them. The CDC was pretty safe by the looks of it, but even a high security place can only be so safe for so long.

"HUH! There you are!" Brie yelled as she raced into the Rec Room, " You will not believe the amount of alcohol that they have here! I'd thought I'd never be able to get another drink again." She said quickly. Odette laughed and shook her head.

"How much have you drunk?" She asked. Brie shrugged.

"I don't know. But I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up with a hangover." Odette rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, I hope you have the advil for your headache in the morning." Odette muttered. Brie scoffed.

"Whatever. You should let loose for once!" Brie explained taking Odette's hands into hers, "Look, this place is the first time in weeks, where we have good food, a place to sleep, _showers_! We don't have to sleep with one eye open anymore." Brie pursed her lips. "I love you like a sister. We always have, With our families out of reach," Brie stopped getting a grip on herself, "_gone_ for all we know. We have each other

Odette nodded and pursed her lips,

"Yeah okay." She said softly, Brie smiled.

"I'll see you later okay? Its my turn to go and hog the showers for the nest three hours!" She said with a giggle. She kissed Odette's cheek before running off to the showers.

Odette sighed before taking her book back to the couch and started reading. Well, tried anyways. The book itself was quiet boring. The last she wanted to read about were the laws of physics that were applied into everyday lives. A few minutes of just scanning her eyes across the pages she heard the sound of heavy footsteps in the halls, and they stopped just outside the door of the Rec Room.

"You uh. Left this in the shower room." Odette turned her head to see Daryl standing by the doorway. "There's still a lot left, and I don't think that Rick or Lori would appreciate seeing it around their 'angel' of a kid." He said sarcastically. Odette smiled and pushed her curly golden layered locks out of her face.

"Thanks Daryl." she said. She stared at him, all nice and clean. His hair was nice and clean, not full of the grease and oil, his face and toned arms were dirt and grime free, and he wore clean cloths.

_Damn,_ she thought to herself, _He cleans up good_.

"Heh. You enjoying that book there? Catching up on your university years?" Daryl joked taking a swing out of another beer bottle.

"No. Just needed something to pass the time."

"Why not drink? Liquor here ain't that bad." He said. Odette frowned and shook her head.

"Nah. I'm already addicted to my pain killers. The last thing anyone needs is me drinking." She cringed and grabbed a hold of her thigh with her hand over her jeans. "You mind throwing me the bottle?" She asked her voice becoming horse.

Daryl threw the capsule to her and she caught it, taking off the cap, and swallowing two of them. She sighed and closed her eyes, and waited for the pills to work their magic.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'm off to get shit face drunk, again."

* * *

It was late when Odette heard Brie enter into their room. She didn't sleep, she waited for her to come back first.

"Hey O," Brie said using her nickname, "It's okay, I'm fine. You should go to sleep." She said as she crawled into the cot beside Odette.

"I just can't fall asleep." Odette said turning on he side so that she could face Brie.

"Is it your leg?"

"Naw," Odette replied shaking her head, "it's better now. I took some Vicodin." Brie raised a brow.

"I thought you were trying to detox." Odette furrier her brow.l

"Why would you think that? I was taking as less of them as I could so i could save them for longer. If things got too bad, if cave." She answered.

"So. It's been a month since we've been with Dale and Glenn and everyone. How many times have you caved in?" She asked.

"Twice." Odette replied.

"Only _twice_?" She pressed on.

"Yeah. The first week I caved in, and then today when things got kinda bad. I will not _detox. Yet _anyways." She muttered.

"You are hopeless." Brie said laughing.

"Not as hopeless as you."

* * *

The following day Odette and Brie woke up late. They had spent most of the night just talking and hanging out like they would usually do on their phones late at night. While they were out f the campsite, they alway kept quiet in their hares tent, the sound of their voice could attract some walkers. Now, not only could they sleep without shifts, and with their eyes both closed, but they could mess around all they wanted in the privacy of their rooms without disturbing others and attracting the walkers.

After washing their face an brushing their hair and teeth the two of them headed down to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. While Odette's leg didn't hurt as much, Brie had a massive hangover.

"I am never drinking again." Brie would mutter every now and then.

"I told you you'd regret it in the morning." Odette said with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Brie snapped.

"Wow. Someone's touchy." Odette muttered. "You want anything to eat?" She asked. Brie shook her head.

"No. But I wouldn't mind having something for my headache." She groaned.

"Here, jut have some of this." Odette pushed a plate of bacon to Brie. "The grease will help with the hangover." She said as she chomped on a piece.

"Hey guys!" The two of them turned to see Glenn who was standing at the doorway of the kitchen, "Come on! Jenner'd about to show us something." Glenn said. "Just bring the bacon." He added.

When Odette and Brie entered the lab, the first thing they noticed was the diagram of a brain on the screen. Odette and Brie stood by Daryl who was near the back as listened to both Jenner and finished their bacon.

"What's he talking about?" Brie asked. Odette rolled her eyes.

"You know you should be listening. It's good to know. He talking about the transformation that happens to the brain when someone gets bit or scratched." She explained. In the meantime Daryl managed to sneak a few prices of bacon off of Odette's plate.

"Do you want the rest? I'm full anyways." She offered, "Brie'll probably throw up if she eat any more." She added.

"Don't mind if I do." He mumbled as he took the plate from Odette.

It wasn't long before everything went wrong. All of the entrances Locked, the alarms and light went off, and everything was under a lock down. Not only was this a shock to everyone (they thought they would be safe for at least a while) but no one wanted to w stuck here forever.

"Please! Open the doors!" Rick shouted over and over. Odette had no idea what she could do. Fear had take. Over her body many times, but never like this.

"I can't do that! Only the computers can open the doors." Jenner replied.

"What are you doing?" Odette shouted. Beside he Brie was on the verge of a breakdown. Shane and Daryl were trying to get through the doors, to even make a dent, but that was no use.

"You'll all die very quickly." Jenner Said. "I'm saving your lives, wouldn't you rather die like this than getting chewed on?" He yelled. Slowly, Brie got a good of herself.

"Brie! Come on we have to find a way out of here." Brie looked up at Odette through her brunette front bangs and shop her head.

"I'm not going." She managed to choke out. Odette's eyes widened and she began to year up/ she let go of her cane and dropped to the floor and took hold of Brie's arms.

"N-no! Come on! You h-ave to come! You're all I have left! I'm not loosing you!" She joked out.

"Come on! I'm opting out. We all die anyways. We've already lost our families. Our parents are gone, our siblings.-" Brie sobbed some more, "an I lost Jeff! And you lost Elliot." She cried.

"Come on! We can get out of here!" Jenner finally opened the doors and soon people began to leave.

"Odette. Please! Just go! Promise me that you'll stay alive!" Brie cried, "you have a shot at making it. You have survival experience. I just hold everyone back." Odette's cheeks were now stained with tears.

"Fine. Then I'm staying too." She said.

"No! You are going! You have to! For me, for Elliot!" Brie's hand reached up to her neck and she unclasped the single diamond necklace around

"Here, take this and go. You don't have much time." Brie Said handing the necklace to Odette. "Go!" She yelled. Set pursed her lips and kissed Brie's cheek,

"I love you." Odette cried.

"I love you too. Now go!" Brie yelled. Suddenly, Odette felt two arms wrap around her waist and pull her up.

"C'mon. We gotta get out of here." It was Daryl, "We don't have much time." He added.

"Go!" Brie said softly putting on a small smile, "Get out of here!"

Odette grabbed her cane and ran (as well as she could with a cripple leg anyways). She turned her head to see Brie and Jacqui and Jenner stay behind, watching Dale trying to talk some sense into Andrea. She saw Brie give her another smile before Daryl pulled her away.

"C'mon! We don't have much time." Odette began to sniff from crying too much. "Carol grabbed everything she could, people's bag and shit." He muttered.

"Fuck!" Odette heard Daryl yell as they finally reached the top where a large window blocked their chance of getting out.

He ran towards it an started banging on it with an Ax while Rick and Shane helped as well. Odette didn't see a point in it. The window wouldn't break, unless...

"Move." Odette manages to say. She ran to the window without her cane, and pulled out the small ticking bomb from her bag (the one that Carol held) she enabled it, an attached it to the pane of the window, then ran back as fast as she could. The bomb detonated, which shattered the glass on the window allowing everyone to finally leave the CDC before it self destructed.

Odette headed towards her car. Odette placed her cane in the passenger seat, were Brie would sot with her. She took out 2 Vicodin and ate it just for the sake of it. her leg didn't hurt as much as the fact of her knowing that the one person she had left in this world was gone. She took her set of keys out from the dashboard and started her engine. She stopped to take a look at the CDC, the closer she looked, she saw Dale and Andrea coming out of their. Then she saw the flames following them close behind. Odette ducked as the CDC self destructed.

Odette looked at the necklace Brie handed to her in the Palm of her hand. It was a necklace that Odette had given to her as a wedding present when Brie married Jeff. Tears fell from Odette's eyes as she clasped the necklace around her neck. Just as they were about to leave, Daryl headed to Odette's car.

"Ya know I think it would be safer if you don't drive. Get in a car with someone else." Daryl said. Odette wiped her years off from her Cheeks and shook her head.

"I'll be fine. I'd rather be alone now anyways." She said solemnly.

"Alright. But I'm gonna be following you to make sure you don't kill yourself." He said waking off.

Odette watched Daryl get onto his motorcycle. I anyone knew what she was going through it would be him, it would be Carol, T-Dog, Andrea.

They started moving. As they hit the road Odette took a deep breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Now that she had lost everyone she cared about. Her Mum, Dad, brother and sister, her husband (though he had died previously before the attack hit) and now her best friend.

Who did she have left?

* * *

_**A/N: So yeah there's the first chapter, sorry it its a little long, but idk... it just is. i know this character seems to be a little vague, but i intend to round her off as the story progresses. Um, yeah. I hope you liked it! I appreciate you taking the time out to read this story, hopefully you weren't and will not be disappointed. feel free to express your opinion, i surprisingly can take criticism pretty well, i learn a lot from it. so yeah, idk im just kinda ranting on now. I hope this wasn't a huge let down. Thanks! :) **_


	2. II

**Born to Die**

**Part II**

The next couple of days were add for everyone. On their way to Fort Bennington, walkers managed to siege the remaining members of their group on a high volume trafficked highway. During which, Sofia managed to get lost in the woods. Throughout the next few days, search parties began leaving an entering the woods in hope of looking for Carols lost daughter.

Odette managed to keep away from most people. Dale and Glenn and Carol managed to keep company for the most while. She was much more comfortable around them then anyone else.

Except for maybe Daryl.

He was an interesting one.

Though he kept a good feet of distance away from Odette see since the CDC, of didn't bother her much. She figured it was his way of letting her grieve with what happens with Brie and everyone else she learned.

When his brother, Merel Dixon had been left at the rooftop of one of t buildings in Atlanta, Odette gave Daryl his space. The two of them had never been that close, but they did somewhat enjoy the company of another's presence.

She was worried about him though. Everyday he would be leaving early in the morning too look for Sofia, and coming back late. And, while Everyone else was off helping, Odette stayed behind to help take care of T-Dogs infected arm.

She was a good doctor, she knew what was wrong. His wound was slowly getting infected. If he didn't get proper medical care soon, his blood would be infected as well and he wouldn't n able to low another day.

Today, just as Daryl was about to leave to go look for Sofia again, Odette ha decided that she was going to tag along. She was the only one who still handy gone off and helps which made her feel worthless and useless.

"No. Can't risk it." Daryl replied as he hung his crossbow over his toned shoulder.

"Oh come on! While everyone else's Been helping I've been here doing nothing. Just let me come this once." She said furrowing her brows.

"I already said it once. I can't risk that. You're the only one here who has proper medical training and actually knows what the fuck you're doing. And you're helping T-Dog get better. That's important." Odette rolled her eyes.

"That may be true. But, I'm also the only here whose had proper military training too." She said, "Besides, T-Dog won't get better if he doesn't get _any_ antibiotics soon." Daryl looked at Odette and then turned to the RV where T-Dog was inside looking concerned.

"Why? What's the matter with him?" He asked.

"His wounds infected. If he doesn't get any antibiotics soon then chances on that infection can turn bacterial which will eventually cause sepsis." She said. "He's already showing a few symptoms." She muttered.

"Sepsis." Daryl repeated, "we'll why didn't you tell me before?" He asked her somewhat annoyed. He ruffled through the pouch that was on the side of Mer- Daryl's bike and pulled out a plastic bag full of bottles of medicine.

"Merel has a kick-ass stash. Here," he said handing Odette the bag full of medicine, "take what you need. You stay and take care of T-Dog." He said hesitantly placing one of hands on Odette's shoulders.

"Besides, I don't think you should be walking out in such terrain with a fucked up leg." He said with a smirk, resulting in Odette rolling her eyes.

"See that's where you're wrong Dixon." She muttered As she headed back towards the RV.

"What's that?" Asked Dale pointing to the bag of antibiotics, pain killers and other drugs.

"Some medical supplies. Hopefully there something in here that'll help T." She said. She checked on T's fever, who was asleep on the bed in the RV.

"Where'd they come from?" He asked.

"Daryl." She said, "do we have any water? We need to keep him as hydrated as we possibly can without an IV." She said. Dale nodded.

"Yeah. There's a truck that carried some water cooler bottles up ahead. I'll go get a few." He said as he got up from his seat to leave the RV.

"Thanks Dale." Odette said as she pulled out all of the medicine and looked at them.

"I think we should all be great to you. We're lucky to have a doctor amidst us." He said.

"Damn!" Odette said.

Unfortunately for her and T, amoxicillin was the only thing in that bag that would somewhat help treat T's infection. It didn't necessarily help fight the infection, it only really helped prevent it from getting it worse. And, on top of that, it was most commonly used for children that adults. But, it was all she had for the time being.

_Next time anyone heads off to town, I'd better make sure to tell them that they come back with some medical supplies. First aid kits only do so much_. She thought to herself.

* * *

Everyone had gone to look for Sophia except for Dale, T-Dog and Odette (no thanks to Daryl). But he did have a point. Besides, since Shane, Rick And Lori had tagged along as well, Odette didn't want to go that much anymore. Odette actually found the three of them annoying (Rick and Loire mostly) and she just didn't like Shane. Odette could somewhat call herself a people person, an when she was around Shane all see could see was him oozing jealous, dangerous and untrustworthy slime.

As hours dragged on, Odette managed to keep T-Dog hydrated without IV. The amoxicillin helped keep the infection from getting any worse, and she managed to find some alcohol to disinfect the wound he had up his arm. And she managed to change his bandage.

In the meantime, Dale cooked up something for T to eat when he awoke. Daryl was generous enough to leave a squirrel behind for T.

"Where is everyone?" T asked Odette and Dale as they served him is meal in his bed.

"They went out looking for Sophia." Dale said. "Odette and I stayed behind. She did a mighty good job keeping you healthy as best she could."

"Daryl did have some medicine. But was antibiotics that I really needed. The penicillin helped keep the infection from spreading." Odette bit her bottom lip. "We really need. Some more medical supplies." She muttered.

"How long has everyone been gone for?" T asked.

"It's been a couple hours. They should be heading back now before night falls." Dale said.

"I'm sure they're fine. They have Daryl, Glenn's quick on go feet." Odette said.

"What bout Rick and Shane?"T asked.

Odette shrugged, "If you ask me, they talk more than they act. I mean their more vocal." She said.

"Point taken." Dale muttered. "But you gotta give Rick some credit." Odette nodded.

"He's trying. But sometimes I feel like he doubts himself more than he needs to." Odette said. "You stay here. I'll go get T some more water from the cooler truck." Surprisingly, all the bottles that Dale managed to get ran out during the process of managing to keep T hydrated.

Odette left the RV with Dale and T inside. The truck wasn't that far away from Dale's RV but, Odette still really needed her cane. She manage to pull one out from its place. It was pretty heavy, but it was for T, she was determined now more than ever to keep him alive as best as she could. She didn't want to loose anyone else so soon.

* * *

Daryl was as annoyed as ever as he lead the rest of the group back to the site. There we was, trying to keep quiet so that a walker wouldn't come out of nowhere and attack, and then there were Lori, Andrea and Carol, who were giving each other dirty looks the whole time and bickering.

He had, had enough. Luckily for him, a young woman with short brown hair came running through the woods on a horse in a hurry. Daryl lowered his crossbow when he found out it was a human rather than another walker.

"Lori Grimes?" She asked. Lori stepped forward. "Your husband, Rick sent me. Carl, your son has been shot. Hop on ill take you to him." She said. Lori eyes widened as she quickly climbed on the horse.

"Rick said the rest y'all were out on the highway?" She asked.

"Yeah." Glenn answered.

"I want the rest of y'all to follow the road and then make a left before the intersection. You'll see a farm with the name _Greene_ on the mailbox. That's us." And they trotted away quickly.

"Do you think that gunshot we heard was the one that hit Carl?" Glenn asked they headed back to the highway.

"Obviously." Andrea muttered.

"You think we should have had Odette join them?" Glenn asked again. Daryl shook his head.

"Naw. Rick and Lori are with him. Of Rick needed Odette then he would have asked for that woman to bring her too. Sides, she's busy with T-Dog." He said. "We ought be heading back." He muttered.

When the group arrived back, to everyone's surprise they didn't see Dale on top of his RV keeping watch over the grounds. Which, in result got Daryl suspicious.

"Where are they?" Andrea asked looking around exhausted.

"I'm sure they're just inside with T-Dog. I'll go take a look." Daryl looked back and saw Carol, Andrea and Glenn looking somewhat worried, "I'm sure they're fine. We would have heard somethin'." He said.

When he entered the RV he saw Dale and T-Dog in the bedroom. T was asleep, and Dale kept checking his temperature making sure he stayed hydrated. Daryl entered the room and kept his gaze hard on T-Dog.

"How's he?" He asked. By the looks of it he looked a whole lot better. His bandaged looked new, he looked cleaner, more hydrated.

"Much better. But he still needs a bit of work done on him." He said, "Thank you for the medicine." Daryl shrugged.

"It was Merel's. He always kept some kick ass pain killers with him. None of that generic stuff." He said. The silence slowly became awkward for the both of them, "Do you um," Daryl cleared his throat, "Know where Odette went?" He mumbled. Dale raised a brow.

"She went to get some water from the cooler truck. T-Dog needs some more. We have to keep him hydrated as best as we can." Dale said.

"So she's gone to bring that all the way from there to here?" Daryl clarified.

"That's usually how it works." Dale said.

"Stupid bitch." Daryl muttered as he left the RV.

* * *

Odette knew that she wouldn't be able to carry it. 1) it was heavy 2) she was a cripple and needed her cane. So, logically she rolled it back to the RV. As she rolled the water she saw everyone coming back. Odette smiled slightly and sighed in relief, but, then narrowed her eyes when she didn't see Lori or Rick or Carol or Shane return. She may not have liked the Rick/Shane/Lori trio all that much, but, that still didn't mean she wasn't concerned.

Odette sighed again, this time in frustration and continued to roll the water back. Odette accidentally dropped her cane, reached back down to grab it, and saw a foot holding the water container in place. She looked farther up and noted it was Daryl Dixon.

"Um, I hate to burst your bubble but your foot is on T's water." She said.

"The hell do you think you're doin'?" He snapped. Odette narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on her hip.

"Stuff. I'm just taking this over to the RV." She muttered. "What's it to you?" She snapped.

"Look. Why don't ya just let me take this back. Clearly this is too difficult for you, ya k-" Odette raised her brows clearly offended.

"Excuse you? I'm a cripple! I can still take care of myself! I can still _walk_. I'm not in a wheelchair." She snapped. She eyed him, her eyes full of rage. "You think I'm so helpless?" She retorted. Pushed the carton of water hard, she heard a thud when it hit his leg. She knew it didn't hurt him, but that wasn't the intention. "You take it back." She said storming off to her car.

"Son of a bitch!" He heard her mutter.

* * *

After a while, Odette was back with Dale and T when Glenn told them what happened back in the woods.

"So they've allowed to go over there?" Dale said, "Should we? We don't even know them." He said. Odette shrugged.

"I'm with Dale. But if they've allowed us to go then I think we should take advantage of that and help T get the proper care he needs. There's only so much you can do with penicillin." She muttered the last part. "We should take him there. I'll take him." She said. Dale nodded.

Fine. But someone should go with you." Dale said.

_Please not Daryl_. Odette thought.

"Glenn?" Dale suggested.

"Why is it always me?" He complained. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Look. If Glenn doesn't wanna go, it's fine. I'd rather go myself anyways." she said. "It really is no big deal."

"I know but I would feel better if I knew someone else came with you." Dale said. "I'd suggest Daryl but he's determined on finding Sophia." Dale said. Glenn sighed and caved.

"Alright. We'll leave tomorrow." Odette raised her brow and shook her head.

"No. We should leave now. T may be doing well, but I cannot stress enough, that he can't keep taking what he's taking. Obviously they have medical supplies." She said. Glenn shook his head.

"Fine." Odette smiled.

"Good. Glenn, Daryl you'll have to move T to the bak seats of my car. Be careful with his arm and don't do anything stupid." She said as she left the RV.

"Wait. Why do me an' chinaman have to carry the mutt?" Daryl asked clearly annoyed. Odette looked at him with pure rage.

"Because according to redneck scientist everywhere, cripples cant do anything." She snapped. "And you might wanna hurry it up before I loose my other leg and become mobilized." She muttered looking particularly at Daryl before she left.

"You think she's PMSing?" Glenn asked. Daryl looked over unamused.

"You better not let her here that." He said.

* * *

_**A/N: Okay so i didnt mention this before, so i'll do it now. This fanfiction will have some Romance, Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort and friendship. :) Hope you enjoyed it! :)**_


	3. III

**Born to Die**

**Part III**

It had been a couple days since Odette and Glenn brought T-Dog to the Greene farm. While Hershel was off tending to Carl's bullet, one of his daughters Maggie allowed Odette to tend to T's wound in a separate room.

While everyone else was calm and grateful towards Hershel for helping Carl, Lori was unsatisfied. Odette kept hearing her mumble on how "a vet couldn't help their son."

Odette found Lori incredibly selfish. There she was getting help, and she wasn't satisfied. Clearly, no one could check into a hospital and expect treatment from the worlds best doctor. She had to suck it up. A chance was still a chance. Besides, even though Hershel was a vet, he still knew what he was doing. Animals honestly aren't that different from humans. Their anatomy still rubs off.

What really got Odette worried was the fact that Shane an Otis; who ended up being the one that accidentally shot him, went out of their way to go and get a respirator, Along with other medical equipment that the family didn't have. It didn't bother her so much that they were out where walkers inhabited. What raised her suspicions was when Shane came back alone.

Otis was gone. And Shane told everyone that he sacrificed himself.

_Bullshit_. Odette thought.

She knew for a fact that about a 10 people risked their lives to get supplies, and all of them (with the exception of Merle) came back. And, on top of that he went with a Sop (Odette believed he never was a good cop. And not as good as her) and Otis who had been around walkers numerous times.

Something had happened that night, and Shane was too big of a wuss to come clean.

Search parties for Sophia still happened daily. But, T and Rick (who had given a blood transplant to Carl) weren't allowed to go wandering off too far on their health condition. Hershel had no problem With Odette running off.

She liked the Greene family very much. She had a good friendly relationship with Hershel and his two girls, Beth and Maggie. She wasn't as close to Patricia and Jimmy as she was with everyone else, but they still got along.

It was a nice day outside, so Odette and Andrea were atop Dale's RV keeping watch. Lately, Odette noticed the slight obsession that Andrea managed to get over guns. In her hands was Dale's riffle.

"I know you really wanna use a gun. But seriously, if something does happen it's a Better idea to use something silent so you don't attract more walkers." Odette said for the umpteenth time. Andrea rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Guns are faster. Easier to use." Odette raised a brow.

"Yeah. And they're loud and run on ammunition. Which by the way, we're low on." Odette added.

"Well. This is what we have to work with." Andrea replied. "We're keeping watch. It's our job." She said. Odette narrows her eyes. Andrea had never Been that fond of guns.

"Look you could hurt someone by accident. Look what happens to Otis and Carl." Odette explained. "He was experienced, you don't really know how to use one." She said.

"Yeah well unlike Otis. I'm not stupid okay?" Odette was furious.

"What is up with you? Do you have any respect for the dead?" She asked. Andrea scoffed.

"Yeah. Cause the dead deserve some respect." She said sarcastically.

"Well in that case, Amy was one of the dumbest blondes I've met. She gives me a bad name, oh and s-"

"Shut up! You have no right to talk to about my sister that way?" Odette shrugged.

"Why not? She was bit wasn't she?" Odette retorted.

"You fucking bitch!" Andrea shouted running over to Odette.

She grabbed her cane and jabbed it into Andrea's stomach and she fell over in pain.

"You have no idea who you're messing with." Andrea threatened as she grabbed a hold of her stomach.

"Yeah I do." _Damn, that was almost too easy_. She thought.

Odette helped her up and Andrea looked at her with suspicion.

"Oh now you're helping me?" Andrea scowled. Odette shrugged.

"Hey! I was only acting in self defence. Honestly though, I didn't mean anything I said about Amy. She was a great person." Odette said, "The point I was trying to make was that everything that happens here is going to be unsuspecting. And, w-" Andrea however wasn't listening anymore.

"Walker!" She shouted. Odette dropped her lecture and looked to where Andrea was pointing.

"I don't think its a walker, it doesn't really look determined to eat us." Odette said.

"Yeah but look at the way its walking. Its a walker."

"No. This is a bad idea. Give me the gun."

Andrea lay down on her stomach and then using the riffle shot the moving thing. She missed the head, yet the thing still fell anyways.

"It's Daryl!" Odette heard someone yell.

"I hate to say I told you so... But I told you so. Smart one." Odette muttered the last part.

"ODETTE!" She heard Rick yell.

"I'M COMING!" She yelled as she stepped down the ladder and headed towards an unconscious Daryl.

* * *

As Odette approached Daryl and everyone else the first thing that really captured her attention. The necklace around Daryl's neck.

"Is he wearing ears?" She asked half disgusted an half curious.

"Take them off. Hershel's already operated on Carl. Y-"

"You want me to do it. Fine." Odette said biting her lip. "But uh- can I keep the necklace?" She asked hesitantly. Rick looked at her with his jaw dropping in unison.

"What? Have none of you guys seen pirates of the Caribbean?" She defended herself.

* * *

Daryl was in the guest bedroom of the Greene house. Odette used the respirator and gave him a small dosage of anesthesia. She wasn't an anesthesiologist, but she knew how to give the right amount of dosage. The surgery wouldn't take that long. 1) the bullet was still a whole 2) she was simply removing a bullet, not giving someone a heart transplant.

Odette started with the bullet. She numbed the area and then used a sterile marker to mark the incision lines. Next, Odette used the scalpel to cut an incision on his side where she drew her marks. After making the incision she used the Bovie to cauterize the veins and tissue so that extra blood didn't get in the way of her getting to the bullet.

If the bullet wasn't so far in his side, she could have easily just pulled it out. Andrea might have had a bad aim, but was clean with her shot. She was just grateful that the bullet didn't end up shattering into smaller pieces.

After looking around for a about a minute or so, she found it. Odette used some alcohol to help pull out the bullet.

"Bingo." She mumbled as she placed it in the tray.

Odette was now ready to close the incision. The markings that she made sting the market helped align the skin as she used the suture to stitch the tissue and skin back together.

Next, she moved to the side of his chest and began to tend to his wound.

* * *

Hours later Daryl awoke in bedroom. He lay under the covers of the bed shirtless. He had a couple bandages on himself. Two wrapped around his chest and sides, and one around his head. He touched them carefully and noticed that he still had a little bit of heavy bleeding. His body ached. He hadn't felt this much pain in years. Daryl was tired, thirsty and hungry. Every now and then his breath would come out shaky, but he managed.

It wasn't long till he heard a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" He croaked out. In came in Carol with a tray of food.

"I didn't think you'd be awake. I brought you some food." She said softly setting it down on the side table beside him. Carol pursed her lips and sighed.

"I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am. You're the only one whose really looking for Sophia and I'm very grateful for that. And, I just wanted to say thank you and to apologize." She said softly before leaving.

"Hey wait!" Daryl called. Carol stopped. "Why're ya apologizing?" He asked confused.

"If you weren't out alone, looking for Sophia t-" she began on the verge of tearing up.

"Hey. It's not cause of you. It's not yer fault. Remember that. I'm looking for Sophia cause it's what anyone with little morale left would do." He answered. Carol smiled.

"Thank you, again. I'll go get Odette. I'm pretty sure she'd wanna check up on you, now that you're awake." Carol answered. Daryl furrowed his brows.

"What about Hershel?" He asked. Carol coked her head.

"Oh no. Odette did everything." She said and then left.

"Oh boy." He muttered.

* * *

It was about five whole minuets till Daryl heard footsteps coming towards the bedroom door. And, seconds later the door finally opened.

"You know when you walked out of the woods we all thought you were a walker cause you were walking very dementedly." Odette said. Daryl cracked a smile.

"I got shot, got hit with one of my arrows, and yer tellin' me that I was a walker." Odette smirked.

"No. You could pass for one." She said. Odette cleared her throat then furrowed her brows. "You haven't eaten?" She asked him cocking her head. "You need food." She said. Daryl cleared his throat.

"I ate a bit. Just lost my appetite." He said. Odette scoffed and then took a seat on the chair by the bed that Daryl lay on. She propped her cane up by the side table. Odette stretched her legs so that her feet were on the side

"I hate to break it you, since obviously you're trying really hard to make it to your weight goal." She joked sighing, "But, seriously. You need to eat. You've lost some blood. Not enough for a donor thank God, but you still lost a lot. You _need_ to eat." She said. Daryl looked her closely.

"Why'd ya help me?" He asked her softly, "I was an ass to ya." Odette shrugged and sighed.

"You weren't a total ass. Sides, you're one of the few people I actually like here. And you can hunt, you're looking for Sophia more than anyone." Odette nodded and licked her lips, "Cause _deep_ down. You actually care." She said. Daryl just stared, and it was hard for Odette to pick out what he was thinking.  
"One of the few huh?" A small smile formed the corner of his mouth, "who else ya like?" He asked. Odette rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Feel honoured?" She asked raising a brow.

"Feel curious." He muttered.

"Well," Odette cocked her head and began to count on her fingers, "There's you, Dale, Glenn, Carol, T and Hershel's family." She answered. Daryl raised his brows.

"What about the rest?"

"Lori and Rick I just find annoying. Shane is kinda stupid and needs anger management. The three of them together like getting all up in everyone's pooch." She said, "and Andrea is kinda iffy for me. One minuet she's all fine and the next she goes all haywire. But yeah, she's cool." She said. "Carl is just kind of like the kid whose just there ya know?" She explained furrowing her brow.

"Now, since I've been spilt the beans on everything. _Eat_." She insisted passing Daryl the tray of food.

"I can't." He muttered.

"What? Cause you're not hungry?" Daryl nodded, "Bullshit."

"Then what is it doc?" He mumbled.

"It's cause your chest is in pain right? From your bow." She said. "Hershel doesn't have very good pain killers." She said.

"What makes you think I need pain killers?" He asked.

"Cause you're in pain which is why you won't eat." She said.

"I ain't takin' any." He scowled.

"I would have thought that a guy whose brother likes carrying around drugs would have at least wanted something to ease the pain." She said.

"Fine." He said. Odette smirked and pulled out her bottle of Vicodin. She pulled out two and handed them to him.

"It'll work faster if you chew them. Then you have to eat." She said. Odette watched as Daryl slowly began to pick and chew at his food. She grabbed her cane and began to leave the room. Then, she stopped in her tracks.

"Oh. I'd be careful while eating. You might throw up just a bit." She said.

"Why's that?" Daryl asked, his eyes growing wide.

"It's the anesthesia. Sometimes it can have that affect." She said.

"Hey Odette." Daryl called stopping her just as she was about to leave. "Thanks." He said. She shrugged.

"No problem. Rick didn't give me much of a choice anyways." She said with a smile, "joke." She added raising a brow. "Oh!" She raised her brows as she remembered. She pulls out Daryl's walker ear necklace. "Here. Rick was the one that pulled it off. I thought you might want it back." She said as she placed it on the side table.

"Heh. He's always tryin' ta keep this place PG." he muttered. "But thanks. I was In a daze when I did that." He muttered.

"No problem. Looks very- Jack Sparrow-y." She said. Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" He asked gruffly. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Johnny Depp?" She asked him.

"Yeah, what 'bout him?" Odette shook her head.

"You uncultured bastard." She muttered. "_Captain_. Captain Jack Sparrow."

* * *

The following day Hershel, Shane, Rick and Odette went to go check up on Daryl. Odette listened to Rick and Shane and Hershel nag Daryl about how irresponsible it was leaving without a partner, while Odette played with her cane.

"How are you feeling?" Hershel asked. Odette shrugged.

"Meh. I've had better days." She said, "And nicer canes. The one I had before had re-"

"I meant Daryl." Hershel said. Odette shrugged.

"I thought that it was an open question." She muttered. Shane gave her an irritated look.

"Better than before." Daryl answered as he lay sprawled across the bed in his side, still shirtless.

Every now and then Odette found herself staring at his chest for far longer than needed. She couldn't help it though. Not her fault that he was attractive for a 35ish year old. The previous scars and bruises didn't bother her much. She had he fair share of baggage as well. His tattoos though

were rather interesting.

"Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel asked as he cleaned up some of the blood on Daryl's chest.

"Ya mean the one that almost killed me? If she were smart she would have left the country." Daryl said, his voice full of threat. Which caused a giggle to escape from Odette's lips. Everyone stared, Shane was annoyed.

"What I up with you? Why don't you leave?" Shane yelled. Odette looked at him unthreatened and cocked her head.

"Um before you start telling at me about how crazy I am, let's start with your bald spot and your nose. Besides, I'm the one who saved him from dying. And you have no reason to be here anyways so why don't you just piss off." She snapped. "Americans." She muttered.

"Why are the ears there?" Rick asks annoyed pointing to the necklace that Odette places on the side table. "I don't want that around here. And I sure as hell don't want my son seeing it." He snapped.

"We'll I'm sure he won't be too alarmed." Odette muttered. Rick looked angry at her, "What? Have _none_ of you guys seen Pirates of the Caribbean?"

* * *

Daryl had been moved back outside in his tent where he would stay and rest. So, his searching for Sophia was momentarily put to a stop. Carl was back in his feet now, but he had been nagged constantly by his parents to stay close to the farm house. Andrea stopped taking watch for a while. Glenn and Maggie kept going in and out of town coming back with supplies when things were low.

Tonight, Carol, Lori Andrea and Odette were thanking Hershel and his family for their hospitality. They were cooking his family dinner as a small token if their appreciation. Maggie, Beth and Patricia obliged and had no problem with them using the kitchen. Hershel however wasn't too fond of the idea.

"So uh. This silence is just too much." Odette said as she began to season the chicken breasts.

"Tell me about it. Last time things were this silent, I was about to tell Rick I was pregnant." Lori said with a small laugh.

"We'll then, lets hope the next time won't be so bad." Andrea said causing the small smile on Lori's lips to fade into anxiety.

_Trouble in paradise_? Odette thought.

"How's Daryl feeling?" Carol asked, "Will he get better soon?" She asked. Odette nodded.

"Yeah. He's getting better. I've treated worse." Odette answered.

"In a zombie apocalypse?" Andrea joked.

"True. But, when I was in Budapest with my partner while I was still in the agency, and I remove multiple bullets from his chest... In a bathtub." She explained. "He lived." She added. "And I had a few drinks before hand." She muttered.

"That's good to know... What about now?" Asked Andrea.

"I have no clue. We were both compromised, but I know he made it out alive too. I saw him in New York before all of this happened." She said.

"Odette," Carol called, "I was wondering of you could take this plate of food over to Daryl. I know it's a little late for lunch, but he was sleeping when I brought it to him." Odette shrugged.

"I guess."

* * *

Daryl lay awake in his tent skimming through the boom that Andrea has brought to him from Dale just this afternoon. He was hopelessly and utterly bored. Couldn't do shit with his body all bumed up.

"You awake?" He heard the familiar voice of Odette from outside his tent. "Carol sent me over to give you some food." She said.

"About damn time." Daryl said as Odette unzipped the door to his tent.

"Carol said that she came by earlier but you were fast asleep." She said as she placed the food down. Just as Odette was about to leave, Daryl stopped her by grabbing her wrist which caught her off guard completely.

"You wanna stay a while? You can only entertain yourself so much." He said as he began playing with one of his arrows. Odette shrugged.

"Gee I don't know, as a cripple I find it hard to sit down on my ass, and then back up without a nurse following me around every second of everyday." She said sarcastically.

"Alright. I get it. I'm sorry 'bout what I said, about the whole leg thing." He said. Odette cocked her head and sighed. Daryl raised his brows then narrowed his eyes. "What! I apologized. Don't ya say something after that? Isn't that how it works?"

"I'll think about it, _if_-"

"'_if'_ whataya want from me?" He asked somewhat confused.

"Once you're ready to get back on your feet, you'll let me go out looking for Sophia with you." She said. Daryl growled and rolled his eyes.

"You're one stubborn bitch ya know?" he said.

"Oh come on! Just once! Besides, after your whole accident I'm 99.98% sure that Rick and Shane wont let you go out alone. _Please_."

_Doctor stubborn has a point_. he thought

"Fine." He said.  
Odette's lips grew into a wide smile. Without thinking, she pressed her lips to Daryl's cheek. Shocked by what she had just done, she grabbed her cane, then pulled herself back up from the ground then quickly left Daryl's tent. As she left, Daryl could see a faint pigment of blush sneak its way onto her cheeks. Without thinking, his hand traveled to his cheek.

It was still warm.

* * *

_**A/N Okay, so I added the Pirates of the Caribbean reference I guess cause when Daryl wore the necklace, it reminded me of Dead Mans Chest when Jack and his crew were captured by the natives on that island, and they wore like body part jewelry. so yeah! also, i LOVE JOHNNY DEPP! :D thanks for reading guys! I Hope you liked it just a little :)**_


	4. IV

**Born to Die **

**Part IV **

The next couple days Rick and Shane agreed to start shooting lessons for the camp. Ever since Andrea's major blow with shooting Daryl, everyone agreed that it would be the best and safest thing to do. Persuading Hershel to allow guns on his property for a while was hard- but not impossible. Odette and Dale were able to come through for everyone, and Hershel allowed the use of firearms on his land, _if_ Rick were around.

Daryl was still 'hospitalized' in his tent, so having him help direct shooting lessons wasn't an option. However, he would leave his tent every once in a while to see how things were going, and then after 15 seconds of staring, he'd grow bored and head back inside.

Odette helped Rick and Shane with the lessons. Her experience with weapons of all sorts and survival was what Rick liked most about her. She had a keen mind and eye and conscious to know when to shoot. Her approach to teaching did involve a lot of yelling and sarcasm, but Rick let that slide. She was doing a pretty good job teaching Carol and Glenn the ropes of gun survival and use.

Shane on the other hand was a mess. He yelled, but unlike Odette he didn't have the authority- he didn't know when to stop. He was struggling in teaching Andrea, who became annoyed with his attitude.

"Ya know. I think I'd much rather be learning this with Odette, Glenn and Carol. At least she knows what she's doing." Andrea said placing a hand on her hips.

"She already has two people to look out for. Just stay here." Shane said with sudden anger.

"So? She has better experience than you and Rick." She retorted.

"Yeah? Well look at what that experience gave her. A fucked up leg." He pointed out. Odette who wasn't too far away from them rolled her eyes.

"I heard that you know!" She yelled at them.

"Just because she has a bumed leg doesn't mean she's not good. How about you go on and help your girlfriend." Andrea said raising a brow, referring to turned and walked over to Odette and Glenn and Carol. "Mind if I join you?" She asked. Odette shrugged.

"No problem. Not my fault I'm so popular." she joked. "Okay, so what did that son of a bitch fail to show you?" She asked as she pulled out a gun from her belt. "You know? I think I'd have a lot more fun if we treated this like boot camp." She said. "Drop and give me 20!"

* * *

After a long day of gun training, Dinner was what Odette was looking forward to. 'Bootcamp' ended up being a lot of fun for her and everyone. She started with the basics, locking and unlocking, loading unloading etc. and then started with shooting, a moving target and still, then practiced with the different guns that the camp had to offer. She was happy with her group, they joked around for a bit. She noticed that even Carol would have a small smile on her face every now and then, despite the fact that Sophia was still missing. Andrea got the hang of everything pretty fast, which really annoyed Shane. But, Odette didn't care. She knew it wouldn't be long until he left, or until Odette shot him. Cause, he was _really_ pissing her off.

Not to mention, the training really helped distract her from the growing pain building up in her leg.

She went to go and give Daryl his dinner after she had finished hers. She took longer than usual, mostly because she was able to sneak into the bathroom upstairs. She searched the medicine cabinet for some painkillers. Surely Hershel would have some. But, none of them were strong. She found some ibuprofen, and a little paracetamol. But, they didn't work better than her Vicodin, which by the way, she was running low on. Some Methadone would have done it, but she couldn't find any.

Damn.

"What took so long?" Daryl asked as Odette handed him his plate of food. "I feel like the family dog. Y'all eat all the food and leave me with the fuckin' scraps." Odette rolled her eyes and sat down at the other end of his tent. It wasn't big, but the corner would have to do.

"Sorry. I've never worked as a waitress before. And, do these look like fuckin' scraps to you?" She said. Odette sighed and stretched out her left leg. She rubbed the gash on her thigh and groaned.

"Ya okay?" Daryl asked as he narrowed his eyes and watched Odette rub her leg. Odette shrugged.  
"Is anybody?"

"How'd the lessons go?" Daryl asked, "Shane looked pissed." He said smirking. Odette smiled,

"Yeah!," she giggled, Daryl found it cute, "He was with Andrea and he was being a jackass as always, so she ditched him and hung out with Carol, Glenn and I." She said, "It was great. I haven't felt this powerful in a long time. I felt like God. All in control" She said with a smile. Odette glanced over at his book and cocked her head.

"Yeah. If JC were still around don't ya think things would be a whole lot different." Odette shrugged.

"I don't really care. I'm Jewish anyways." She said.

"Since when?" He asked.

"Since the world went all haywire. Besides, the whole trinity thing is _really_ starting to crash right about now. Have you read any of it?" She asked gesturing to the book Andrea gave him yesterday.

"The book don't have any damn pictures it." He said.

"Have you ever even opened up a chapter book?" She asked. Daryl scowled.

"Only when I had to." Odette cleared her throat and the pushed her long curly honey locks out of her face.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him. "Did Hershel change your bandages this morning? He said he would." Daryl shook his head.

"He said he'd do them later. He went out with Beth's boyfriend." He said.

Hesitantly Odette reached to touch the bandage that was wrapped around Daryl's head. He tensed up just a little.

"Stay here. I'll be back." Odette said as she left the tent.

"As if I have fuckin' choice." He muttered.

She left her cane in Daryl's tent. She was still able to walk (limp) without it, but not for long. She just needed to get some supplies from the house.

* * *

Odette walked back to Daryl's tent with some new clean bandages, some tape, alcohol and scissors. When she entered his tent she saw Daryl fiddling with his arrows.

"Watcha got there?" Daryl asked as Odette slowly sat down closer to Daryl. Odette sighed and purse her lips.

"I'd never thought I'd ever saying this in a tent but uh. Strip off your shirt." She said. Daryl narrowed his eyes and laughed coldly as he continued messing around with his arrow.

"What?"

"Strip. I need to change your bandages." She said. Daryl sighed as a smirk pulled on his lips.

"If ya wanted to screw around ya could have just so." He joked as he hesitantly pulled off his dirty shirt.

Daryl wasn't necessarily the 'body conscious' type. But, he did have several bruises and scratches on his chest. The ones that he earned from his father when he was younger. It never bothered him all too much, he'd tell the girls he'd pick up from the bar that they were from when he was Iraq. But now, around Odette, he'd wonder what she'd thought. He couldn't pull the same type Of bullshit on her. She and the others knew that he far from a solider.

Odette cocked her head and bit her bottom lip as she carefully pulled off the bandage that was on his side.

"You're not in pain right? I'm not hurting you?" She asked him as he pulled it off.

The palm of get hand rested on one of his old bruises. She herself was hesitant in making sure that she didn't apply too much presume on it. Old bruises and scars do Hurt.

Daryl sighed and shook his head.

Odette put the bandage aside then put some alcohol on one cotton ball. She looked at Daryl before clearing her throat.

"Um. This might sting a little." She said. Daryl sighed again and closed his eyes.

Once the alcohol hit his wounded skin, he flinched. It stung a hell of a lot, but he remained fatigue composed. He balled his hands into fists, doing everything he could from keeping his voice from leaving his lips.

She leaned in pretty close to him. Daryl could feel her breath on his chest. If it weren't for the fact that the alcohol stung, he would have wrapped his arms around her and then pull her in closer.

But it was just a fantasy. She might have kissed his cheek last night, but he knew it didn't mean anything. If he could but a label on what they were, it would be friends.

They were just, really close friends.

After Odette placed a new bandage on Daryl. She worked on the bandage on his head. After a few minutes, she was done.

"There. That wasn't so bad was it? I'd give you lollipop. But all I have is a sticker." She said as she gave Daryl A sticker that she took off from one of the oranges. She placed it on his forehead and smirked.

"I'd much rather go for the alcohol." Odette smiled and laughed.

"Uh, no. Instead of trying to get yourself _shit-face drunk again_, read the book." She said a she gathered her things and left his tent.

"Whatever doc." Daryl said.

He lay back down on his sleeping bag, not even bothering to put his shirt back on. He twirled his arrow around in his hand and watched Odette head back to the farm from the net in his tent.

* * *

_**A/N: I know this chapter is shorter than the previous ones, but the next one is a lot longer :) Thanks to everyone whose Favorited, Followed and reviewed. Thanks so much! :D I hope you kinda liked it! bare with me! :)**_


	5. V

**Born to Die**

**V**

Daryl was better. Much better. In fact, both Hershel and Odette Said he would be able to go off looking for Sophia again. Which as a result made him... Better.

He had promised Odette that she could go looking for Sophia with him. He wasn't much for coming through on promises, but this was different. She had helped heal him over the past few days, kept him company every once in a while, knew her ways of survival. Besides, like she had said before. After him getting shot, the last thing Rick and Shane would agree to would be him going off on his own.

He hasn't shown anyone the doll that he found at the creek when he was lat off looking for Sophia. It was a huge clue. It was Sophia's doll, the one she was always carrying around. He figured that if there was anyone he could trust, it would be her.

It was still early in the morning when Daryl finished his early breakfast of squirrels. Majority of everyone were still asleep, or still in their tent. Only he, Dale and Shane were awake. Daryl waited by the small wood house for Odette. He filed down some of ha arrives and cleaned them, just trying to keep busy and away from everyone else, particularly Shane. Yet, he still had the balls to come over and talk to Daryl.

"Whataya doing up so early?" Shane asked as he leaned against the wood house. Daryl narrowed his eyes at the cop and scowled.

"Could ask you the same thin'." Daryl said as he continued to clean his arrows. Though, there want much need, he'd clean them way to much while he was stuck in his tent.

"Come on man. Quit being so stubborn." Shane said placing his hand over his mouth and laughing. "You uh, you going to look for Sophia?" He asked.

"What's it to you?" Daryl asked giving him a death glare.

"None of you get it do you? If she hasn't been found now, then she's probably been bit!" Shane said.

"There's still a chance. Y'all thought Rick was dead but he came back didn't he?" Daryl yelled. "Just shut the fuck up and leave." He yelled.

"You're not going by yourself." Shane said calmly.

"I know that." Daryl said rolling his eyes. "Piss off." He said.

"Who you going with?" Shane asked.

"None of yer business." He spat.

"Oh. Lover boy going with Swan princess?" Shane said. Daryl had enough. He pointed one of his knives at Shane's throat, the tip poking his skin.

"Shut the fuck up! Why do ya even care? She hates ya anyways." Daryl yelled. Shane laughed.

"Yeah I don't think so. She's just playing hard to get." Shane said as he slowly walked away from Daryl. He kept shooting him dirty looks as he walked back to his tent.

Daryl cursed and began carving a spear lol weapon out of one of the tinier logs Hershel as. As h skinned the wood all he could think bout was skinning Shane down and then burning him at the state.

He knew for a fact that Odette hated Shane. She had told him a million times before whenever the topic of Shane appeared. She never hung out with him or Rick or Lori, even Carl all that much. If she really did like him, then how come she never went off looking for Sophia with him, or hunting, or keeping watch. She was the one that wanted to head out with Daryl. She was the one who had kissed his cheek the other night.

Daryl, like other men never really understood women all that much. Odette wasn't necessarily a challenge. Just hard to read. Always hard to read.

This would be the first time the two of them would actually be alone together. It made him wonder if Odette had changed her mind about the search.

* * *

Odette had woken up later than she intended. She yawned as she awoke, changing into some light blue jeans, and a worn out mint and coral blouse. She pulled her long layered honey blonde curls into a loose bun, then headed on over to Dale's RV for a quick bite for breakfast.

After grabbing some weapons (a knife and a hatchet- cane included) from her trunk, Odette headed over to Daryl's tent.

"Hey Daryl? You in there? Sorry I woke up late." She said, "Daryl?" She asked again, but he didn't answer. She unzipped his tent to find it empty. "Figures." She muttered.

"You looking for Daryl?" Shane asked as he approached Odette, who was still by his tent.

"Obviously." She said placing her hand on one of her hips.

"He's over by the wood house." Odette nodded giving him a silent thanks. "You're actually going with him?" Shane asked surprised.

"Duh."

"Why? He's Daryl! He's related to Merle Dixon!" Shane laughed coldly, "You really trust that guy?" Odette narrowed her eyes and kept her stance.

"I trust him more than you that's for sure." Shane eyed her.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Shane asked taking a dangerously step too close.

"It means I know what really happened to Otis that night you went to the high school. I know what you did." She said, "Watch your back Walsh." She spat as she headed over to Daryl.

* * *

Soon as she headed over to Daryl, she knew something was up. He just sat there on the pile of wood on the side of the house, and skinned that piece of wood. He didn't even bother to say 'hello'.

"He-"

"Let's head out. Try to get as much as we can done." He said, his voice somewhat gruff.

"Uh, Okay. What place do you have in mind?" Odette asked as they headed off into the woods.

"I found this," Daryl fished out Sophia's doll, "Near the creek over there. So, we must be gettin' close."

"When did you find this?" Odette asked.

"Last time I went out lookin' for her." He said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" She asked. Daryl shrugged.

"Didn't feel like the right time." He said.

Daryl showed Odette the creek that he fell into, where he found the doll from up top of the cliff. Odette cocked her head, and listened to his game plan before interrupting.

"Sorry, but um. Its great that you found the doll, but do you really think she's down there? I mean wasn't a creek where where we lost her?" Odette asked. Daryl shifted the weight of his crossbow and nodded.

"Yeah."

"Well then I hate to break it to you, but i doubt she's there." she said . Daryl furrowed his brow.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

"Look, she's 12 years old. She's not a boy, not Carl. I'm sure that she's smart enough to go look for a place stay and hide out. If she went running from walkers, i doubt she'd still be near a creek." Odette explained. Daryl sighed and looked at her, the back at the creek.

"Aight. Where do ya think she went then? Right or left?" He asked. Odette pursed her lip and watched the direction of the flow of the river.

"Lets try left." She said.

* * *

As the headed in a southwest direction, their travel was full of silence, some talk, and silence and so on. Odette knew that Daryl was off just slightly today, and for what reason she knew not. She didn't ask him though, he figured he had his owns reasons. They tried to keep quiet for most of the time, they want to attract the uninvited.

"Stop." Odette said. She put her arm out in front of Daryl, gesturing for him to stop. "Are those tracks?" She asked him. Daryl kneeled and eyed the ground floor of the forest intently.

"Yeah. They could be hers." He said as he looked up ahead. "Nice call. For an Aussie." he said with a smirk. Odette shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"What gave it away? My accent?" She asked sarcastically.

"That, and first day ya saw Merle you called him an old schooner." He said.

"Bewdy." Odette replied.

"The fuck does that mean?" He asked as they continued to walk in the direction of the tracks.

"It means 'really good.'" She muttered.

"So, where in down under were you born?" He asked.

"I was actually born in Chicago. When my dad got a good job offer we moved to Melbourne when I was about one and a half. after about fifteen years we moved to New York." She said. "Accent stuck with me, which I kinda like. I'd go on trips down there whenever I can so I don't lose it." She said.

"Still sound like an Aussie." He said.

"Do you really think we'll be able to find her?" Odette asked. Daryl began to tense up as sudden anger boiled up inside him.

"Shane been gettin' ta ya?" He muttered. Odette narrowed her brows and shook her head.

"Since when does anyone aside from Lori, Carl, Rick and Andrea actually listen to what he has to say. No. I mean finding her. She's alive." Odette reassured herself.

"What is it with y'all? This is Georgia. Not the mountains in Tibet." Daryl said. Odette shrugged.

"No. But at least the mountains in Tibet would be a challenge for walkers. She's only 12. It would be easier geolocating her, but, I don't think she has a phone with her. Not to mention getting a signal. And Internet." She said.

"Hell I was younger than her when I got lost. Nine days in the woods eating berries and wiping my ass with poison oak. Dad was off with a waitress, Merle was in juvie. When I got home made myself a sandwich. My ass itched of somethin' awful." Odette giggled and shook her head.

"What? No squirrels?" She asked.

"Not good enough back then."

They had been following the trail for a while. Walking for hours, and Odette's leg was burning up again. They had come by only a couple walkers, some Daryl was able to handle, and some Odette managed. Daryl had to admit, she was a fighter.

As they walked farther up ahead, Odette and Daryl saw a small cabin. They both looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking. Sophia could be in there.

As they walked up ahead, Odette took two ibuprofen capsules.

"What no Vicodin today?" Daryl asked.

"Almost out. Looked into Hershel's medicine cabinet and found some painkillers. Not the great ones, but these'll have to do."

"You an addict or what?" Daryl asked. Odette scoffed.

"You have no idea." She muttered

* * *

They found a cabin in the woods. Daryl kicked open the door to the cabin. His crossbow was aimed, ready to shoot incase any walkers had invaded the area. Odette followed behind him. With her hatchet in one hand, her cane in the other. They kept as quiet as they could. Daryl gestured to the stairs that lead up to the upper floor. Odette nodded and continued the search downstairs.

She found two walkers. In the kitchen. She whistled, grabbing their attention and their blood covers faces turned to her. Their jaws were snapping, ready to take a bite, but she knew what to do. As the one who was in front advanced towards her, Odette used the hatches to cut off its arms. Then. She killed the one who was behind which earned her more time. Then, she went back to the first walker and slammed the hatchet into its skull.

The area downstairs was now clear. Odette searched everywhere looking for Sophia. She didn't call for her, who knew what was going on with Daryl upstairs. But, one thing for sure, she knew he was capable of taking care of himself.

Odette opened up a cabinet to find that the bottom part if the shelf had been occupied not too long ago. There was a blanket layering the bottom, pillow and a teddy bear. Someone had been here, And Odette hoped that, that someone was Sophia.

"Sophia!" Odette called in a hushed whisper, "Sophia!" She repeated. "It's me, Odette. Daryl and I are here. Sophia!"

"She's not upstairs." Daryl said slightly upset as he headed down the stairs. "Any luck?" He asked. Odette cocked her head and shrugged.

"Somewhat. I found this." Odette showed Daryl the cabinet, "she could have bed. Hiding in here. She could fit, it's big enough and she's not that small." Odette observed.

"Looks to me like we're making progress." Daryl said as he kneeled down and ran his fingers over the blanket and pillow. "Any walkers?"

"Two in the kitchen." She answered.

"Ya kill em?" He asked. Odette rolled her eyes.

"No, I let them take a chew at me." She said sarcastically. Odette looked outside. It was dark. "We should get back." She said to Daryl.

"No. It's too dark. Too risky. We can stay here the night." He said. "There's a bedroom upstairs." He said. Odette looked over at Daryl uneasily, then up the Stairs and outside through one of the windows.

"Um. I don't know. Dale and everyone might be worried..." She said uneasily.

"They shouldn't. Two experienced survivors." Odette sighed and but her bottom lip. "What are you afraid of me?" Daryl mumbled. Odette shook her head.

"No. This cabin is just creepy and it looks so dirty and gross. I'd hate to be a germaphobe, but it doesn't look _sanitary_."

"Upstairs ain't too bad." Daryl said as he headed up the stairs. "Whatever. Suit yourself." He muttered as he headed up the stairs.

"I- ugh. Dixon." She growled as he followed him up the stairs. She found him in the _one _bedroom upstairs. He was right though, it was cleaner up here. Probably cause walkers hadn't made their way up there.

"Oh. Look who decided to come." Daryl smirked as through his crossbow over his shoulder.

"Where you going?" Odette asked narrowing her eyes.

"I'm Hungry. Gonna go out and find some squirrels." Odette sighed and shook her head.

"Um actually I think I'll go out too. Look for some berries." She said. "I don't really like raw meat." She explained. Daryl shrugged.

"As long as ya don't start wipin' yer ass with poison oak."

* * *

Odette had never gone camping when she was younger. Her parents both worked, and her siblings were busy with their own lives. Plus, she was never one who loved nature all that much. However, she did learn about poisonous fruits and tress and everything when she was in sixth grade and they did a unit on wildlife. Living in Australia at the time, it was a very important thing to learn. Sure they had kangaroos and koalas out in the wild, but the country was home to some poisonous snakes, spiders and dangerous creatures like alligators and crocodiles.

Using the flashlight that Daryl was smart enough to bring, Odette set out looking for some berry bushes near by. She had seen a few on their search, just farther up a head.

"This would have been easier with night vision goggles." Odette said to herself as he found a berry patch. It was bad enough she had to leave her cane in the Cabin, now they didn't have night vision goggles. She picked enough for herself and Daryl (just incase) and enough for breakfast the following morning. It was better than eggs everyday anyways.

When Odette reached the cabin again Daryl wasn't around. A small part of her worried if he were okay, but she brushed off. She knew he could take care of himself. He ha ventured off into these woods before... And then come back looking like a walker.

_Shit_. She thought.

The bathroom upstairs was... _Sketchy._

" should've peed outside." She said to herself as she left the bathroom in a hurry. "Just cause the world's gone haywire doesn't mean you just forget taking care of personal hygiene." She muttered as she at on the bed. It sank pretty low. And Odette felt the spring loosen. "Great. No wonder someone slept in the cabinet."

When Odette heard the front door open and the familiar footsteps of Daryl, she calmed down just the slightest. Odette pulled her curls out of her bun, shook her hair with her fingers, and then tied it up in a low pony tail.

"Did ya find any berries? Or were ya too busy playin' hairdresser?" Daryl asked sarcastically as he entered the bedroom. He pulled his crossbow off of his shoulder and smirked. "Found some whiskey in the kitchen." Odette looked at him slightly disgusted.

"You're not actually gonna drink it are ya?" She asked him. Daryl smirked as he pulled it out and pulled off the cap taking a swig.

"Might as well. Not like things can get any worse." He muttered. "Want some." He offered. Odette shrugged.

"Is there anything else to drink other than whiskey?" She asked him playing with her cane.

"Beer." He replied.

"I'll take some. Just a little." She added as Daryl walked over to her and handed her the bottle. She pulled out another ibuprofen and washed it down with the whiskey.  
"Ya sure that's the best thing ta do?" He asked.

"Might as well, not like things can get worse." She mimicked. "Stop being such a hypocrite." She snapped as she handed the bottle back to him.

"Ya do get pretty moody." Daryl mumbled as he took another swig.

"Not my fault I get moodswings. I blame my parents for bad DNA." She muttered. "Are you really okay with staying here overnight?" She asked. "This place is really sketchy." She said.

"Marine afraid of this place?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" She snapped. "Did you get any squirrels?" She asked.

"Naw. Too dark." He said. "Any berries?" He asked. Odette nodded.

"Yeah. They're over there." She pointed at the side table. "I'm telling you. If we end up finding night vision goggles things would be so much easier." She said.

"That so. I'm gonna go take a shower." Daryl muttered as he finished his bottle.

_Someone's a fast drinker_. Odette thought. She watched Daryl go back downstairs.

"Um, showers right there!" Odette said pointing to the gross bathroom. "It's kinda gross." She mumbled.

"I can't take a shower sober." Daryl said as a-matter-o-factly.

"Men." Odette muttered.

* * *

As Daryl drank some more whiskey in the tattered looking shower, all he could really think about was the fact that Odette was in the room right on the other side of the door. They were alone in a house.

They could do it. But, Daryl knew that if Odette was even interested in him, the last thing she's be looking for would be a one night stand. Relationships weren't really Daryl's thing, he was the type of person who'd be looking for a hookup at a sleazy bar or strip club. What made her so different?

_Cause you like her_. A voice (one that sounded like Merle) said. _Don't be such a pussy. Just fuck her and get it over with. _Now that was Merle.

"Piss off Merle." Daryl muttered softly.

_All you gotta do to get into her pants, is to make the first move you jackass. _There he was again.

"Jesus Christ."

* * *

Odette found herself to be somewhat disappointed. She had hoped that since they had Ben together the entire day, something would have pushed her to make herself closer to Daryl. She liked him. She knew that Daryl wasn't necessarily wasn't one to be social. But, come on!

Sighing Odette pulled off her shoes, her socks and her pants. She placed her hand over the gash on her thigh and sighed. Sometimes she wondered what it would have been like if she went through with the operation to amputate her leg.

But would she still be alive? She ran her nails over her wound and bit her lip. It still hurt.

* * *

Daryl pulled his dirty cloth back on after he left the shower. He drank two beers and three whiskey's. Yet, his throat had never felt so dry before.

When he opened the door and walked back into the bedroom he found Odette no where to be found. He saw her shoes, socks and jeans on the side table. Her cane was gone too.

Daryl shrugged and headed back down stairs to the kitchen to get another drink. He slowed down when he heard a voice coming from the kitchen.

"Shit!" It was Odette.

Daryl furrowed his brow and entered the kitchen where he found her sitting on the counter with a towel and a bottle of whiskey. She sat wearing her panties and her blouse as she tented to the gash on her leg.

"What are ya doin'?" Daryl asked. Odette didn't move her gaze towards him, she just took a deep breath.

"I'm just cleaning it up." She answered. Daryl scoffed.

"Doesn't it look too old to need cleaning?" He pointed out.

"I clean up anyways." Odette muttered. It stung a hell of a lot. Odette didn't cry out too much, she kept it all inside. Her eyes began to water just a little, but she could do it. It was then that Odette realized that Daryl was staring at her legs. Suddenly she felt conscious. Rubbed her legs with her other hand, trying to cover up the scars.

"Ya don't have to do that." Daryl said.

"I can if I want to." Odette snapped.

"Doesn't bother me." He said.

"It bothers me."

"I've seen worse." He said. Odette managed to laugh coldly.

"There's more where that came from." She muttered. Daryl approached her and grabbed the bottle of whiskey.

"Ya still need this?" He asked. Odette looked at him, he could have sworn she looked a little disappointed, and nodded.

_Come on you big pussy. Make your move_. Merle said laughing.

Daryl wasn't sure if it was the fact that Merle was driving him insane, or the drinking, or what. Something came over him. He put his bottle aside and turned Odette's head towards him, placed his hands on the both sides her face and he kissed her. He kissed her hard. What surprised him was the fact that Odette didn't pull away, she kissed him back. She pressed herself closer to him, wrapping one hand around his neck and the other in his head. When he bit her bottom for more, she obliged without hesitation. Daryl wrapped Odette's legs around his waist and then pulled her off of the counter. It was then when Odette pulled away and pursed her lips.

"Yer not ready?" Daryl knew. Odette nodded.

"Like I said. Too much baggage." Daryl smirked.

"You and me both Shelia."

* * *

_**A/N: Okay, so I did promise that this chapter would be longer than the last, and it is. Also, I just wanted to thank VampWolf92 for reviewing and to everyone else who favorited and followed. Thanks guys! Hope you enjoy**_


	6. VI

**Born to Die**

**VI**

Odette woke the following morning earlier than usual. She hadn't slept much last night. 1) because of the sketchiness of the cabin, 2) there was no one to keep watch, and Odette had gotten pretty used to that, 3) because of what happened with her and Daryl last night. Judging by the looks of it, Odette had a feeling that Daryl didn't sleep much either. His reasons? She knew not, but she did have a hunch.

She tossed the covers aside and rose from the bed grabbing her belongings. Nothing had happened between the two of them other than that very _passionate_ kiss. Well, she thought so anyways. Odette looked over her shoulder and found Daryl laying beside her, in the same position he had been all night.

Odette headed for the bathroom. Though she had found it rather gross last night, she needed to take a shower. And, after spending a day in the woods she felt all sticky.

Odette limped her way to the bathroom and ignored everything in her surroundings other than the shower. There were still Daryl's whiskey bottles from last night on the counter, but Odette ignored them. Not like they'd be coming here anytime soon. She turned on the shower and stepped right in, not even bothering to adjust the temperature. There was little shampoo and conditioner left, so Odette managed to use a little. She left some for Daryl in case he needed it.

As she stood in the shower cleaning the dirt and grime off of herself, Odette's mind wondered off to last night. She hadn't felt that way in years. Not since Elliot, her husband had died. It was the best kiss she has in years, and yet, she still wondered why she stopped Daryl and her from going forwards. She was body conscious. With scars and bruises and wounds all over her body, even a faint one on her face, on the side of her cheek. She had seen Daryl with his bruises and scars. If anyone knew what she meant it would be him right?

Or was it the fact that she just wasn't ready? Would they just have a one night stand, feel so awkward after that they wouldn't be able to talk to each other again? She didn't want to lose another friend.

Odette stayed in the shower longer than planned, just thinking. About her and Daryl. It wasn't until she heard tapping on the door that her mind came back to reality.

"Hey Sheila! Hurry it up in there will ya? I gotta take a piss." He yelled through the door.

Odette sighed and bit her bottom lip as she rinsed off the soap and water, and turned off the water. She didn't even bother drying herself off as she changed into the same close she wore last night. When she opened the door she didn't think that Daryl would be leaning so close to it. Odette raised a brow, before heading outside.

* * *

As Daryl cleaned up and grabbed their belongings from the bedroom, he'd stop every once in a while and stare at the spot where Odette slept. She had taken two pillows out of the four on the bed. One that she laid on, and the other one she hugged through the night. He thought about what would have happened to the both of them of they had sex last night. Would she be soft be soft and gentile? Or, would she be a wild cat?

He remembered how shocked he was when she kissed him back. He had expected her to run the other way and head on back to the camp. But she stayed. Now, would be things be awkward between them now?

"Great" he muttered.

* * *

She used a twig from a tree, and began to brush her teeth using the bristles from the twig.

"It's like survivor meets LOST. But I'm stuck in the woods with a sawyer rather than a John Locke." Odette mumbled. As she finished with her teeth, she turned and saw Daryl walking out of the cabin with their supplies.

"The fuck ya doin'?" He asked as he eyed her with a twig in her mouth.

"I was brushing my teeth." She muttered as she took her belongings from Daryl.

"Could've used a toothbrush." He said. "I was thinking we could head back, rest properly and then go east. Just in case." Odette shrugged and began swinging her cane.

"Sure I guess." She muttered pushing her wet curls out of her face. "Stupid hair." When she went to tie her hair back, her elastic snapped. "That's it. I am so fucking done!"

* * *

As they headed back to the farm, the two of them noticed their surroundings a whole lot better than when it was dark. When they passed a field of white flowers, Daryl stopped to pick a couple. Odette stayed behind and eyed the flowers. They were different, she had never seen flowers like these before.

"Ya ever seen these before?" Daryl asked as he picked at one of the white petals

"No. I don't think they grew where I was." She said.

"It's a white Cherokee rose." He said as he handed one to her. "Have ya heard of the story?" He asked her.

"No Sherlock. If I have no idea what they are, how the fuck would I know what the goddamn story is." She said. Daryl rolled his eyes.

"It was a rhetorical question." He said bluntly.

"Whatever." She muttered.

"You wanna hear it or not?" He asked.

"Never said I didn't. Go for it." She said.

" It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell." He said. Odette cocked her head.

"Impressive." She said.

"How so?"

"Never thought someone like you would be interested in a background of a flower." She said. Daryl shrugged.

"Thought it's be a nice thing to give to Carol." He said. Odette smiled and handed him the flower. "Ya keep it. For plenty more for Carol."

"Thanks." She said.

"Whatever." He said with a slight scoff.

* * *

They were faster on their way back. They weren't looking for Sophia's tracks any more. Following their own was a whole lot easier. Plus, Daryl knew the wood better than anyone. He practically lived here.

The walk back wasn't a bad as Odette thought it would be. They had come across little walkers. About five at the most. Though Odette hadn't killed as many walkers as anyone else, Daryl was surprised. She was able to remain calm during the situation.

When they got back to camp, it was just past mid afternoon, in between early evening. Odette was happy to be back at the farm. She didn't have to sleep in that sleazy cabin.

Sleeping with Daryl wasn't so bad...

"Where's Carol? You should tell her what we found, and the doll." She said as they headed towards their camp.

"Yer not comin'?" He asked. Odette shook her head.

"I just think it would sound better coming from you. I'll just go for moral support." She said.

"Fine by me." He muttered as he shifted the weight of his crossbow.

As soon as they reached camp, everyone emerges from the RV or their tents and were somewhat furious as to where the two of them had been. Especially Shane, when he found out that they spent the night at a cabin.

"The hell were you thinking?" He yelled at the both of them. Odette rolled her eyes and was ready to chop his head off.

"We were thinking the stupid thing to do would be walking around in the woods during dark. We could have brought walkers to the camp!" Daryl yelled at Shane.

"You were out all day and you found nothing!" Shane attacked.

"Excuse you! Daryl found her doll by the creek! And, I was able to find out that Someone about her age and height was in the cabin we were at." Odette snapped, "And while we were out you've been sitting on your ass bossing everyone around. Back off." Shane wasn't impressed.

She was the next one on his hit list.

* * *

After things cooled down, Daryl went to go see Carol who was cleaning up the RV. Daryl knocked on the wood grabbing her attention.

"Ya look busy." He said as he noted how clean the room looked. Carol smiled a little and continued with her sewing.

"I want it to look nice for when she comes back." Carol said. Daryl nodded.

"Looks good." He placed his bouquet of roses in a small glass that was on the table. "Cherokee rose. Thought it'd be nice for her. Have ya heard of the story?" He asked. Carol nodded. "I know that they wouldn't grow for Merle." His voice becoming soft, "but I know they'd grow for Sophia."

"Thank you, for everything." She said. Daryl nodded.

"No problem. Sophia's a good kid." He said as he took one last look around the RV before leaving.

* * *

"Who the hell does he think he is anyways?" Odette complained to Dale as she and him took watch.

"He thinks he's the second on charge." Dale said as he looked through his binoculars.

"What makes him think that?" Odette scoffed as she sat on the lawn chair on the RV, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I guess cause before Rick showed up he was in charge." Dale said.

"That's total bull. All he did was sneak off into the woods and screw around with Lori. Stupid wombats." Dale laughed.

"Was that obvious huh?" He asked. Odette nodded.

"Duh. I wouldn't be surprised if Carl knows. I know Rick does." She said.

"What makes you think that?" He asked.

"The way he looks at the two of them sometimes. Like he'd want to run them both over with an 18 wheeler."

"I'm sure everyone's wanted to shoot Shane." Dale said. Odette shook her head.

"Oh no. I am so pissed at him, if I got the chance, if kill him in cold blood." She said in a softer voice so no one around would hear, especially Andrea, who had become closer to him.

"Why would you do that? Have you no ounce of humanity left?" Dale asked somewhat appalled.

"Sure I do. But he's not human." Odette said, "might as well be the living walker. Or Becket." She added.

"Whose Becket?" Dale asked.

"You too?"_ Has anyone here seen pirates of the Caribbean? _

* * *

Just before dinner, Daryl ventured off into the woods to catch some game. He back with a dozen squirrels and a few rabbits. Carol and Lori managed to make a pretty good stew from it with some canned vegetables. Everyone sat around the campfire and they all ate in silence. Odette and Daryl sat beside each other on one of the lawn chairs. Before she took a bite out of her stew, she pulled out three ibuprofen capsules. Shane eyed her with disgust.

_Why the fuck did we even allow a drug addict to stick around_? He thought as he ate.

The silence around the camp wasn't too comfortable. It didn't look like anyone in particular was still over the fact with what happened earlier.

Daryl and Odette kept glancing at each other every now and then as they ate. Which didn't look too suspicious. The two had ventured off into the woods together anyways.

"That cabin, the one that you found. Where was it?" Rick asked as he placed his hand over his left leg.

"West. About a days walk." Daryl answered. Clearly he wasn't in the mood to socialize. Not that he ever was anyways.

"Tomorrow. I think it'd be best if some of us looked east. She might have moved there when she found walkers." Rick said. Shane shook his head.

"I'm out brother. We've been looking for her everywhere. If she were alive we would have found her by now." He pressed.

"Shane, not now." Rick warned as everyone began to tense up.

"Not now? Well then when?" He asked calmly. "We should have been on our way to fort Bennington by now." He said.

"We can't leave without her." Odette said as she picked at her stew.

"Why the hell not?" Shane asked.

"Cause we'll find her. Alive or not..." She didn't wanna say 'dead' around Daryl and Carol, "at least they'll be some closure." She said. "Besides we're stuck here cause accidents happened too." She said.

"Yeah? We'll now everyone is fine. We don't have to leave." Shane pressed. "This place can't be safe forever." Shane said snapping.

Odette watched Glenn tense up from in front of her. His gaze dropped to his stew, and he didn't look up once.

"It's the safest place here. It's safe as long as we make it." Rick said. Glenn cleared his throat.

"Um guys. The- there's something I think I should tell you." Glenn said uncomfortably. "Maggie doesn't want you guys to know, but since you've brought it up I think it's a good time."

"What is it Glenn?" Dale asked leaning forwards in his canvas chair.

"There are walkers in the barn." He blurted out. The camp was shocked and remained quiet.

"See. I told ya!" Shane yelled clearly pissed.

"Carl go to bed." Lori said to her son.

"But mo—"

"Carl now." She snapped sternly.

"So what are we gonna do?" Andrea asked.

"I'll talk to Hershel tomorrow. See what he says." Rick said. Shane placed a hand over his mouth and laughed coldly.

"You're gonna talk to Hershel? He doesn't even allow guns on his property! Why would he even talk it out with you?" He snapped.

"It's his land Walsh. Rick doesn't get to call all the shots and neither do you." Odette said.

"This doesn't bother you?" Shane asked somewhat surprised. Odette nodded.

"Sure it does. But we've been staying here for like two weeks. Nothing's happened to us now." She said, "I like it here. And I'd very much like to stay for as long as we can." Odette said. "Besides, what makes you think Bennington is safe?" She asked.

"I would have thought someone with your level of experience w-"

"Is that what you're so hooked on? They don't even train you for anything remotely close for something like this. Besides, doesn't matter what mission they have you doing. You plan and you train and you plan." She snapped, "something your police station clearly forgot to teach you." She said as she left the campfire with her dishes in hand. She took them back to the RV where she cleaned them and put them on the rack. Then, she grabbed her cane from booth and out to her car.

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks so much for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing guys! I hope you enjoyed it and werent too disappointed. :_**


	7. VII

**Born to Die**

**VII**

Odette didn't sleep at all that night. A car only got so comfortable, especially after sleeping on an actual bed after a month. If there was one thing she missed, it was home. Odette lay awake in the back seats of her car. Her head lay on two pillows while she hugged the third. A throw kept her from freezing in the cool night breeze.

Odette unlocked her car and headed out towards the barn with her cane in hand. Her bare arms were covered with a rather thick mint and teal cardigan. The closer she got, the more she noted that there was someone else near the barn as well. Odette mentally groaned, thinking it was Shane. The last thing she needed was him getting all up in her pooch about last night. She didn't care about what she said to him last night, he deserved much more.

"Whataya doin' up?" The voice from up ahead belonged to Daryl, not Shane. Odette sighed in relief.

"Couldn't sleep. So I just wanted to check it out. You?" She asked raising a brow.

"Been keepin' watch." He replied with a scowl. "Bastards are so fuckin' annoying." He muttered.

"Shane make you?" She asked as she began to walk towards it. Daryl stopped her by holding his crossbow out.

"Don't." He said sternly. "You're not armed." He added. Odette shrugged and used her cane to push his crossbow out of her way.

"Whatever. You don't have to treat me like Carl." She muttered.

"Was only lookin' out for ya. Bad enough that ya have a limp. Don't wanna purposely screw yourself up now do ya?" Odette scoffed and shook her head furrowing her brows.

"Are you seriously bringing this up again?" She asked. "Unbelievable." She muttered. Odette glared at Daryl before heading back to her car. "You know, sometimes I wonder if you and Shane Are really all that different." She spat pointing a finger at him.

* * *

After lying awake in her car all night and early morning, Odette awoke when she started seeing Dale and Glenn head out of the RV and tents. Odette sighed and yawned rubbing her eyes.

_great_. She thought, _Now I'm awake._

She left her car, and headed over to go hang out with Glenn and Dale who were on top of the RV taking watch.

"Oi! Morning." Odette said as she climbed the ladder.

"Hey."

"Morning." Both Dale and Glenn said to each other.

"How's it going?" She asked. The morning breeze was still chill.

"We were just talking about what we'd say to Hershel." Glenn said looking worried.

"About the barn." Odette understood nodding.

"What do you think?" Dale asked.

"It's an unpopular opinion, but same As last night. They're not attacking yet. Sides, there's gotta be a reason why Hershel's keeping walkers locked up in his barn." Odette said.

"How'd you find out about the walkers anyways?" Dale asked Glenn.

"Me and Maggie were gonna-" Glenn cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans "Gonna hang out in the barn,"A faint spray of pink blush splashed across his cheeks, and Dale And Odette looked at each other with a small smile, "and then I saw them." He said. "Maggie tried to explain but..." He trailed off.

"I'm gonna talk to Hershel later this afternoon." Dale said. Odette nodded.

"You should. I think he'd take it better if it came from you rather than Shane or Rick. I'm pretty sure they're both getting on his nerves." Odette said. "They're both Bogans." Odette spat.

"Is that er, Australian?" Glenn asked raising a brow.

"Obviously." She muttered. "Are you guys also watching the barn?" Odette asked. Dale shook his head.

"Daryl's been taking care of that." Dale answered.

"Still?" Odette asked.

"Whataya mean _still_?" Dale asked as he looked over at Daryl through his binoculars.

"I couldn't sleep so I headed over to the barn and, he was there, keeping watch." She said shrugging.

"He must be tired." Dale said.

Odette shrugged, "Not my problem." She said with a scowl.

"Something wrong?" Glenn asked eyeing Odette.

"There's always something wrong." Odette pointed out.

"Is it your leg?" Glenn asked. Odette nodded with a shrug.

"Well yeah. It's nothing new though, hurts all the time anyways. I'm low on my Vicodin, and all Hershel has are the sucky painkillers. You know, ibuprofen and stuff." She muttered playing with her fingers.

"What kind are you looking for?" Glenn asked.

"Something strong. Vicodin, morphine, methadone." She listed. Dale shook his head.

"You mean the addictive ones." Dale said. "You really need to stop relying on them." He said. "Eventually you'll run out of everything that we have." He explained.

"I know. I tried detoxing once by myself. It was horrible. Only lasted a week." She said.

"How bad was it?" Dale asked.

"Pretty bad. I smashed my hand with one of those pepper grinders. Broke my bones, but it took away from the pain."

"You need serious help." Glenn said. "Ironic it's a doctor that needs it."

"Oh believe me. I know. My friends used to tell me that everyday." Odette yawned and rubbed her eyes to stay awake.

"You look tired. Go get some sleep. And Go tell Daryl to hit the sack. Glenn can keep watch for him." Dale said. Odette yawned again and nodded.

"Kay. See ya mate." She said as she walked down the ladder.

* * *

Daryl walked back and forth and around the barn. He was tired, needed sleep. But, he was determined to stay awake to help keep watch. The walkers helped him stay awake through the night, they wouldn't shut up.

As he looked up ahead towards camp, he saw Odette limping her way towards him again. He did regret what he said to her earlier in the morning. But, there was no other way of telling her to back off so she stays safe.

Women.

"Ya comin' over ta yell at me?" Daryl snapped once Odette reached the barn.

"I'm not talking to you anymore unless I have to." She snapped. "Dale asked me to tell you to get some sleep. Glenn's gonna take over for you." She said. Odette took one last look at the barn and a tired looking Daryl. Not sexy.

"Bout what I s-"

"Shut up and go. Wombat." Odette snapped as he headed back towards her car.

* * *

After Odette awoke from her nap in the car. She headed over to the RV to go and hang out with Dale.

"Watcha doing?" Odette asked as she watched Dale gather up all the guns in the sherries bag.

"Gathering the guns." He said quickly. "Help me hide them while Shane's still distracted." He added. Odette nodded and took the load of guns off from Dale's shoulder.

They didn't talk until they entered the woods. Everyone else back at camp was busy attending to their own business, Shane and Rick were arguing again by the barn. Surprise, surprise. Odette had suggested they hide them in the swamp, no one would look for the there anyways. She and Daryl passed by there when they were out looking for Sophia.

"You understand why I'm doing this right?" Dale asked Odette as they slowly walked down a steep trench. She left her cane in the trunk of her car. She didn't want it's tracks to be set here, incase anyone did find out about the guns.

"Yeah. S'okay Dale. It's what anyone in their right mind would do. A person like Shane shouldn't be around guns anyways." She added.

"Not just that. He's so eager on killing those walkers in the barn. Only a matter of time until he looses it." He said, "Plus, that thing with Otis." He added softly.

"I am one hundred percent sure he just left him there." Odette said. "Majority of what I've learned is also about signs. I can read people pretty well." She said.

"You're pretty hard to read." Dale said.

"Yeah? Why is that?" She asked even though she ready knew the answer.

"When you're not talking, your face just goes blank. Emotionless." Odette nodded, then began patting her face with her fingers.

"Sorry. It's become a habit." She said.

"Not a problem. I think it can be used to your advantage. Here," he said pausing in his pace in front of an old upside down tree and dead leaves. "This looks like a good spot." Dale said.

"Looks good to me." Odette said as she pulled out one of her pistols.

"Not so fast." They turned to find Shane advancing towards them. "You're really gonna hide the guns from me?" He placed his hands on his hips. "Think you could get away with this old man."

"Shut the fuck up Walsh! You have no right to talk to him like that." Odette snapped.

"S'okay Odette. This doesn't need to turn into something out of control." Dale said.

"Old McDonalds right. Now, give me the guns." He said sternly, "And no one will get hurt." Odette crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed.

"How'd you find us anyways?" She asked.

"I followed your tracks you dumbass."

"If only you could use your tracking to look for Sophia instead of us." Odette snapped.

"How many times do I have to tell you? She's probably dead! While everyone else is going out looking for her, I'm the only one who still lives in reality!"

"You're just jealous cause everyone's out looking for her. I bet of it were you no one would give a fuck."

"You fucking bitch!" Shane started advancing towards her, but then stopped when he heard the click of a riffle. Dale's riffle.

"You back away from her now, and I won't shoot you." Dale warned. Shane laughed coldly and turned his gaze towards Dale.

"You know what? I don't think you will Dale. You don't have it in you," Shane taunted.

"Watch me." Dale warned.

"Look man, just give me the guns. And, I'll walk away. We can forget that this ever happened." Insisted Shane. In the meanwhile, Odette took out her pistol and aimed it at Shane's leg. She didn't want to kill him. No, she wanted him to feel pain.

"Shane. I will shoot."

"No you won't." He took the bag of guns.

"Yes I will."

"You're just some stupid fucking bipolar wench."

She pulled the trigger, and Shane fell to the swamp floor.

* * *

Odette left the swamp, and Dale helped Shane get back to the farm.

"You fucking cunt!" Shane kept snapping. Odette rolled her eyes. As soon as they got to the camp, Rick and Lori were the first people to run towards Shane, worried.

"What the hell happened to you?" Rick asked Shane. "Did you get shot?" He looked at Shane's outer thigh, the place where Odette aimed for his downfall.

"Yeah." Shane said wincing. "Odette shot me." He ratted. Rick and Lori looked at him wide eyed while everyone else came to see what was going on.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Lori snapped at her, her eyes about to tear.

"He was assaulting me. I was only acting up in self defense." She explained. Not all of it was a lie.

"Bullshit!" Shane snapped. "Now fix it!" He yelled. Odette raised a brow.

"After what you just did to Dale and I? No freaking way."

* * *

Odette lay in the backseat of her car, picking at her cardigan. No one other than Lori, Rick, Shane, Andrea and Carl were giving her the cold shoulder. She didn't care though, not like they were friends or anything anyways. Dale supported Odette, mostly cause he was there when everything erupted. Glenn and Carol were both neutral. Then, there was Daryl.

She hadn't seen Daryl ever since her spaz at him earlier this morning. Not that she cared anyways. He was a jerk. Totally bipolar. One minuet he was acting tolerable, then the next he was harassing her because of her disability.

Hershel refused to help Shane and take out his bullet. If anything, Odette could have sworn that he didn't like him much either. So, it was up to Lori and Rick to help out Lori's boyfriend.

How romantic.

Odette had been in a daze until she heard loud tapping on her car windows. Odette rolled her eyes and rolled over in the backseat of her car. Pushing her honey curls over he face, and placed her pillow over her face. She heard a familiar groan. The same person began fidgeting with the handle on the doors.

"Come on Sheila! Open the fucking door!"

"Walk away Dixon." She muttered.

"Everyone's waiting for you." He said.

"There's a surprise. The last thing I wanna do accidentally walk into the Field marked 'lunch mob.'" She mumbled.

"Come on! Shane's lost it! He's about to open up the fuckin' barn." Daryl explained.

"He just got a bullet taken out of his thigh. He can't be doing something that stupid."

"Get out of the car! Or- or I'll break myself in." Daryl yelled.

"Will you just back off and leave me alone? What part of piss off do you not understand?" Daryl unlocked the car doors and then grabbed her shoulders pulling her out. "What the fuck?"

"Look, Just come! You're the only one who can keep in in check!" Odette glared at him, then yanked her away from his grasp.

"Back off. And don't touch me!"

* * *

When Odette got to the barn all she could see was disaster. Shane was just about to open the barn. He was limping his way towards it, and his bandage was soaked with blood.

_They did a really bad job. _She thought.

"Where's Rick?" Odette asked as she headed to stand beside Dale.

"Went out with Hershel and Jimmy. That's why we called you here." Dale answered.

"You couldn't have asked me that?" Daryl muttered who was standing right beside her as well. Odette rolled her eyes and sighed shaking her head.

"Shane! Knock it off!" Odette yelled as he grabbed Dale's riffle.

"What? Are you gonna shoot him again?" Andrea asked with a scowl. Odette looked taken back.

"How is it that I'm the only one thinking rationally?" She snapped.

"You're thinking rationally? What the hell are you talking about?" Odette rolled her eyes.

"Clearly you guys are too stupid and stubborn for your own good. You do know that Hershel's gonna kick is out right? He hates us! Cause of Shane!" She snapped. Lori rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up. What has he ever done." She snapped.

"You mean aside from being an ass, wanting to leave without Sophia, killing Otis? Geez you drongo." Lori went pale.

"Hey! Shane would never have killed Otis! He's not like that. He would never do something like that." Carl yelled. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Just back away. Before things get worse." Shane, being the stubborn bastard he was, opened the lock on the barn.

In the meanwhile, Rick, Jimmy, and Hershel came back from wherever they were with walkers on a leash.

"You think that is rational?" Shane yelled at Odette.

"Hershel doesn't think of the walkers in the barn as dead. Just sick. His wife and stepson are in there. Told me earlier." Dale said.

"He's crazy! They're not sick! They're monsters." Shane yelled. He headed towards Rick and Hershel and began shorting at the walkers chest.

"Shane!" Rick yelled.

"Rick!" Hershel yelled. "Do something!"

"That's where they're heart should be! Why aren't they dead?" Shane yelled at Hershel.

Odette kept her riffle target on Shane. That son of a bitch had to go. Then, Shane shot them in the head. He tiredly limped his way towards the barn where he unlocked it, and stood back as at least a dozen walkers walked out. Shane shot them all, and when Odette turned around, she saw Hershel, Maggie and Beth on the ground crying.

Of course. Shane took the one thing that the family had for closure. Their loved ones.

Shane fell to the floor, exhausted from the strain on his leg. Odette sighed, and just when they all thought it was over. They saw one last person come out from the barn.

It was Sophia. Still alive. Odette gasped and smiled, glad to have her back. She was impressed though. She had stayed in the barn full of walkers all this time, and survived. Odette turned and saw the happiness in Carol's eyes as she saw her daughter. The reunion was short lived though. Because, in a matter of seconds, the twelve year old girl fell to the floor.

She was dead.

* * *

Carol broke down. She ran to her dead daughter, dodging all the dead walkers and sobbed. Shane stared at the body wide eyed. Obviously not realizing what he had done sooner. Odette took one glance at Dale and saw his face grown pale. Carl began to cry in his Mums arms. She turned to Daryl, who looked mortified and pissed off. With good reason anyways, he has spent the past week or so looking for her. Hershel and his daughters were sobbing in the back.

It was worse than a funeral.

"I think we should burry the bodies." Odette whispered to Dale who only nodded. Daryl dropped his crossbow and began kicking at in rage.

"We should move them soon." Odette added as she looked at everything. "The sooner the better."

"I want y'all off of my property! Get the hell away from here! I'll give you two days!" He yelled through his cries as his daughters carried him back to the house.

"Smooth work officer jackass." Odette muttered.

* * *

While everyone else helped move the bodies, Odette stayed behind with Carol who sat sobbing in the RV, looking out through the window and watching everyone place the bodies in Daryl's truck.

"I'm really sorry about what happened." Odette said. A lump was caught on her throat. "Trust me I know how you feel." She said. Carol looked at her coldly.

"What just because you lost your best friend? She was my _daughter_!" She cried. Odette froze for a second and shook her head.

"I was married once too." She said softly, Daryl walked in and say on the counter, "His name was Elliot. We had a son together. I lost both of them about give years back. They died in a car accident." She said softly, Daryl watched Odette and saw her begin to shake. "Worst part was I wasn't even with them. It's hard. Never does get easy cause dammit, I miss them all the time." Her tears were held back. "I know sometimes that you feel like you're alone, and that no one understands you. But take a look here. Everyone has lost someone. You don't have to go through everything alone." She said. Odette pursed her lips, then jumped slightly when she caught sight of Daryl. He want supposed to hear that. She cleared her throat, "I'll give you two a minute." She muttered as she left the RV.

Odette sighed and sniffed back the tears. She headed towards her car, and sat in front of it on the right side, her back to the farm. She began to cry.

She thought about them all the time, but never about the accident. Only about the good times. When someone did mention them, she'd joke and then brush it off, because she was afraid of breaking down. But now, she could try. She has kept everything bottled up inside for too long.

She had to let it out somehow, sometime.

When Odette heard footsteps, she stopped with the water works and brushed the tears off of her cheeks with her cardigan.

"Just me." It was Daryl. He sighed and slumped against her car, and slid down to take a seat beside her. Odette didn't say anything. She just nodded. "Ya can't keep it inside forever. Sadness is like a sneeze. If you don't let it out you'll die." Daryl muttered as he began to play with the hem of his button down shirt.

"Sorry about Sophia. You looked too hard for her for this to happen." She said hoarsely. "And after everything Car-"

"None of it would have happened if Shane hadn't done what he did." Odette shrugged.

"It's my fault. I shot him." She said.

"I don't think the leg had everythin' ta do with it. He's a crazy guy anyways." He said.

"Yeah. But people always look at him as the hero." She said scoffing, "I just wanna go now." She whispered.

"Where?"

"Anywhere. As long as its far away from this place. I- I should have stayed with Brie. At the CDC. She was right anyways. Everyone I care about is gone anyways. What's the point?" Daryl looked at her uneasy.

"What 'bout me?" He muttered. Odette sighed and leaned her head against the body of the car.

"I don't know. One minute you're willing to have a decent conversation, the next you're calling me out cause I have a disability." She said.

"Still think I'm worse than Shane?"

"No. Course not. I was just angry with you." She said.

"Cause of the leg thin'? Or that kiss?" Odette narrowed her eyes.

"Why would I be angry at you for that kiss? Didn't mean anything." She stated.

"What made ya believe that?" He asked furrowing his brows.

"You were drinking the whole night. It was a drunken kiss. And, a drunken kiss is a drunken kiss."

"Ya sure it had nothin' ta do with yer late hubby?" He muttered.

"It's been five years. Almost six. I've had two other boyfriends since then. No. Not cause of him. But that doesn't mean I don't miss him cause I do"

"What about now?" Odette rolled her eyes.

"Now? We-" she was cut off by his lips. This time, when she pulled away, there was a small frown on her face.

"What now?" Daryl asked groaning. Odette scrunched her face and looked at Daryl with unease.

"This isn't a little weird for you?" She asked. "Sophia was found and now she's dead and we're having a burial. You look for her everywhere and know you're kissing me?"

"People grieve and mourn in their own way." He said, his clear blue eyes meeting with her mocha ones.

"Are you using me as a way to process grief and mourn?" She asked plainly. Daryl growled, a noise that Odette hadn't heard him make before.

"Did it look like that?" Odette shook her head, "I may be a lot of things, but if I wanted a quick screw I would have gone with someone easier." He said. Odette cocked her head.

"Like who?" Daryl shrugged.

"Probably Lori or Andrea. But that's not the point." Daryl sighed and picked at the arrows near his crossbow. "Remember when ya patched me up after I got shot, and when I asked why ya did it, ya said it was because _deep_ down I cared. It true, cause I care about ya." He mumbled. Odette didn't say anything, cause well, it was one of the cheesiet things she had ever heard. And, she definitely wouldn't expect that from someone like Daryl Dixon.

"Man. I didn't think it would sound that stupid." He muttered causing a soft laugh to escape from Odette's lips.

"Glad I wasn't thinking the same thing." She mumbled. Daryl scowled and began playing with his crossbow. "But um," she picked at her sleeves, "I'm willing to uh, give it a shot I guess." She said.

"Ya sure?" Daryl asked eyeing her carefully. But, damn was she hard to read.

"Yeah well. Hakuna Matata." She said with a small smile.

"The fuck does that mean?" Odette sighed and shook her head.

"It means no worries. How have you not seen 'The Lion King'? That's just, totally unforgivable." Daryl rolled his eyes.

"First that sparrow now the Arabic." He muttered.

"It's African!" She emphasized, "bozo." She muttered.

"C'mon. Lets go help with the burial." He said as he pulled himself up, grabbing his crossbow. He offered a hand to Odette.

"Thanks. You wanna give me my cane?" She asked as he brushed some dirt off from the butt of her jeans.

"Don't push it Sheila." He snapped as he headed towards the digging if three graves.

There were three graves being dug. One belonged to Sean; Hershel's stepson, Annette; his second wife, and Sophia. The rest of the walkers were gonna be burned.

This was gonna be some messed up burial.

* * *

_**A/N: Okay so about the Sophia thing, I wanted to add a bit of a plot twist with her search. I thought that Shane shooting her while he was in an unstable state would be appropriate. Not to mention, I've always really hated him, so, why not? Anyways, I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading! :D**_


	8. VIII

**Born to Die**

**Part VIII**

During the next few days things were abnormally quiet. Everyone kept to themselves, especially the Greene's and Carol (for obvious reasons). Things were very seldom as the people of their camp started to pack. Hershel wanted-no, demanded that they leave his property in two days. No thanks to Shane.

Odette and Dale were hanging out together at the table booth in his RV, while Carol was by herself staring out the window as per usual. Odette lay across the seats on the table reading one of the books from Hershel's collection. Les Misérable.

"My wife loved books. That was one of her favorites." He said, sitting on the seat across from her on the other side of the table.

"I've only ever read it once. It was pretty good, but the beginning was just. No." She said. "The movie was good." She said.

"The one with Liam Neeson? My wife liked the book better." Odette nodded.

"The books are always better." She said. "With the exception of Lord of the Rings. The books were amazing, just too much detail. Besides, I love Viggo Morsten." She added with a sly smile.

"My wife had a thing for literature." Dale said with a small smile.

"Was she around when all this happened?" Odette asked as placed the book on top of her chest. Her eyes stayed glued to the ceiling of the RV.

"She passed away a few years back. She got sick. Cancer." Dale said sadly. Odette pursed her lips.

"Any kids?" She asked.

"She miscarried, we didn't try again afterwards." He said. "How about you? Personal life between-"

"Dale?" Odette heard the voice of Lori who was on her way inside the RV.

"Oh shit!" Odette muttered as she slid down from the booth down to the floor underneath the table. "Dale, if you rat me out, I'll kill you." she warned joking slightly. Dale sighed and shrugged with a nod.

"Dale! Have you seen Odette anywhere?" Lori asked leaning against the table.

"Er, no I haven't. Why? Is something the matter? Is it Shane?" He asked with concern. Lori shook her head.

"No. It's Beth. She's in some state of shock. Hershel's not here so Rick and Glenn went to go look for him. We need her to see whats up." She explained. Dale sighed and frowned and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. Go and see if she's by her car. Have you asked the others?" Lori nodded.

"Yeah. Carl and Shane haven't. T hasn't and Carol hasn't either. I'll check by her car and see if Daryl's seen her. He's the only one left. If she's not here then she could have gone with Rick and Glenn." Lori ranted. "If you see her can you tell her what's happened?" She asked. Dale nodded.

"Yes of course." Lori gave him a small nod before she left the RV. Odette waited for her footsteps to vanish before she pulled herself up and sat in the booth opposite to Dale again.

"How long as Hershel been gone for?" Odette asked. Dale shrugged.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday. But what about Beth? Shouldn't you go after her and see whats wrong?" Dale asked.

"Yeah I will." Odette said nodding, she picked at her nails and shrugged, "She woke up from a coma. She's probably in cryptic shock." Odette licked and then bit her bottom lip, "I probably should go and check up on her though. It can get pretty serious." She muttered as she grabbed her cane and headed out the door of the RV. "Oi! Dale?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not ratting me out." Odette said giving him a small smile.

* * *

When Odette arrived at the doorstep of the family home Maggie quickly opened the door.

"Oh thank God you're here!" Maggie said with a slight sigh of relief. "Did Lori tell you what happened." Odette pursed her lip and nodded.

"Yeah, Dale did actually. Where's Beth?" Odette asked. Maggie cocked her head.

"Where's Lori?" She asked worried. Odette shrugged.

"Don't know, don't care. Beth's the one we need to be worried about right now."

Maggie took Odette to Beth's bedroom. She saw Andrea leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. Odette ignored her presence for the time being and knocked on the door.

"Beth? Open up." Odette insisted.

"Please! Just leave me alone!" She answered hoarsely. The blonde tried to open the door, but it was locked. Odette sighed and turned to Maggie and Andrea.

"I hate to be rude- actually I don't really care. But, why the hell would you leave her alone like that? She's locked the door." Odette explained.

"What's the big deal? She asked to be left alone, I think we should respect that." Andrea said. Odette shook her head.

"That's not the point. She's in a delicate situation. Things are gonna get bad." Odette said. Maggie looked away from the door with her eyes coated in tears waiting to fall out.

"What do you mean? What's gonna happen?" Maggie said frantically. Odette bit her bottom lip and took one last glance at the door.

"She just woke up from a coma, and the last thing she probably remembers is what happened at the barn. Now that she's awake chances are she's in cryptic shock which makes it critical. In a state of shock you feel depressed, she might wanna, you know-"

"Kill herself?" Andrea suggested. Odette nodded.

"Yeah."

"Well you gotta do something!" Maggie shouted.

"I will. You need to calm down. I will handle this. Maggie, I need you to get me some scissors and a knife." She ordered. "Hurry!" She added. Maggie took one last look at the door before running down to the kitchen.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Andrea asked.

"Pick the lock."

* * *

Daryl had just come back from the woods. Not a bad day. He got about a dozen squirrels and half a dozen rabbits. As he headed over to the wood house to skin and clean them he saw Lori running up ahead towards him. Daryl rolled his eyes and began to skin the meat. He wanted to be left alone, and the last thing he needed was for someone to have him do something. He did that for Sophia, and he got nowhere. It looked as if his grieving process was starting.

"Daryl!" Lori called as she stood in front of him. She eyed his hunt and then looked back at him. He sat on a pile of logs and he never bothered to meet her gaze. "Have you seen Odette?" Daryl tensed up just the slightest. The fuck did they need her for?

"No." He said dully, stopping for a second to look over at her car before skinning his rabbit again. "Why ya need her?" He muttered.

"Beth's, not feeling so well." She explained. Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Go get Hershel." he growled.

"He's not here. No one's seen him since yesterday. Rick and Glenn have gone after him, went to go look in town." She said.

"Well I ain't seen her since yesterday. Go look by her car. Probably hiding away from everyone in her trunk." he muttered.

"I did. She's not there. No one's seen her."

"Well then I got nothin' else ta say ta ya."

"That's not all," Lori began clasping her hands, "I need you to go after Rick and Glenn. They've been gone for a long time. They should be back by now." She pleaded. "Please." she added.

"No way in hell am I goin' after 'em." Daryl said. Lori's expression changed from desperate, to furious.

"Why? Why are you being so- so _selfish_?" She spat. That did it. Daryl stood up and popped.

"_Selfish_? You have some nerve calling me selfish Olive Oyl!" He yelled, "I was out lookin' for that lil' girl every day! So don't you go callin' me selfish ya stupid bitch!" Lori glared at him, and began to head back to the house before turning around once again.

"You know, If Odette's not here, then chances are she's gone and left with Rick and Glenn to go get Hershel." She said. Daryl stared at her blankly for half a second and stiffened again, and then scowled at her.

"What makes ya think I care. They can all take care of themselves." He growled. Lori sighed and glared at him one more time.

"You're unbelievable. Son of a bitch." She muttered as he headed back to the house. Daryl rolled his eyes and went back to skinning his rabbit.

Was he worried that she was off looking for Hershel without telling anyone? No. she could take of herself. She had yelled that him more than once, and he had seen it when they were out in the forest. He was angry. She could have at least told someone that she was heading out. She could have told him, even if their 'relationship' was… off, or unusual, they were still friends—ish.

"Stupid bitch." He growled kicking the pile of logs.

* * *

Maggie came back with the scissors and knife that Odette asked for. She began picking at the lock and in a matter of minutes she opened it.

"That was fast." Andrea noted. Odette shrugged.

"Could have been faster if I used a bump key. It takes a little time to adjust, but can pick any lock if you jolt it." She said. She opened the door and saw Beth sitting on the bed with a knife in her hand. Odette reacted right away and swiped the knife away from her.

"Cutting yourself, won't make it any better, it won't make your life any easier." Odette explained. Beth turned to her, and her cheeks were blotched with tears, her face all pink.

"How would you know? You have no idea what it's like to lose your family." She snapped. Odette shook her head as Maggie and Andrea walked in.

"That's not true. We've all lost people, some more than others. I lost my family long before this happened. My parents are gone, my siblings—I have no idea what happened to them." She said, "But you still have your dad, Maggie, Jimmy and Patricia." Odette looked at Maggie and Beth one more time before she got up, and grabbed Andrea's arm and the knives and scissors, leaving the bedroom together.

"They need some time alone." She said as she closed the door behind her.

"I think you shouldn't have stopped her." Andrea said. Odette raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest.

"She was gonna cut. She's in shock. She's capable of killing herself. Doesn't that concern you at all?"

"If she kills herself it's her decision." Andrea said, "We should respect that. If we stop her, it'll only make it worse." In the meanwhile, Lori entered the house and stopped in her tracks when she found Odette talking with Andrea.

"Where the hell were you?" Lori shouted to Odette, who turned to see the angry mother.

"I was here the entire time." She said slowly.

"I thought you left with Rick and Glenn to go and get Hershel. I hadn't seen you all day." Lori said. "Did you check up on Beth?" She asked.

"Yeah. And she was about to cut herself with a knife someone was stupid enough to leave a knife in her room." Odette said glaring at both Andrea and Lori.

"It was Lori. She gave her the sandwich." Andrea tattled. Odette rolled her eyes.

"You know for an overprotective parent, you really suck at doing a good job." Odette muttered, "Why would you do such a stupid senseless thing?"

"Well how was I supposed to know she'd do something so drastic?"

"She's in cryptic shock. She's capable of anything."

"Where were you anyways?" Andrea asked.

"Out looking for her! If you were here the entire time, how come no one saw you?" Odette raised a brow and smirked.

"I'm just good at hide n seek."

* * *

Maggie came out Beth's bedroom not long after. All three women turned and watched her. She had cried- that was evident. It didn't look like they had made much progress.

"How did it go?" Lori asked. Maggie sighed and shook her head, placing her hands in the back pocket of her jeans.

"She wanted to do it. With me." She said.

"What did you say to her?" Andrea asked.

"Tried to talk her out of it. But—she doesn't wanna hear it." Maggie said. "What should we do?"

"I'll talk to her." Andrea piped up.

"What are you gonna tell her? That giving up is okay? That no one's gonna miss her when she's dead?" Maggie accused. "You haven't been helping much with the situation that we're in."

"I know what you mean. But it's her decision. You can't make someone live a life that their not willing live for."

"So you're practically telling her that suicide is a good option." Lori attacked.

"Well what do you want me to tell her? That everything's going to be okay? That she'll have a husband, a son, a baby and a boyfriend?" Andrea raised a brow. "We can't keep playing house."

"Wait! If we're gonna play House, can I be Dr. House? He was my favorite. I already have the drug addiction and the cane. My American accent does need work though." She joked trying to lighten the mood. Maggie sighed and sniffed, giving her a small smile. "Wait a second. You're pregnant?" Odette furrowed her brow.

"Yes." Lori went pale and bit her nail.

"That's why you look so bloated." Odette noted.

"Excuse me?"

"This isn't about you right now Lori. It's about Beth. So, just drop it." Odette scrunched her nose and sighed. "Go talk to Beth. Maybe she'll need comfort from a previous suicide victim." Andrea gave a nod and a small smile before meeting with Beth. "Just don't give her any stupid ideas." She added.

* * *

The three women were in the kitchen. Waiting. Andrea had been in there for a while. No one talked to one another, they just stood thinking to themselves, glancing at one another. It wasn't until they heard screams coming from Beth's room till they all ran to see what has happened.

She was in her bed, the sheets were stained with blood, the blood that oozed from her veins and trickled down her arm. Beth's hand was shaking, and her face was paler than ever. Andrea was on the bed with her, rubbing her back trying to comfort her.

"What the hell have you done!" Maggie shouted through tears. "Leave! Get out! All of you!" She ran to her sisters side and began looking at the cuts on her arm. "Odette, stay here please. Please, can you stitch up her wrist?" Odette nodded and went to Hershel's room where she found all of the medical supplies she needed.

When she came back down, Maggie had gone. Beth was with Patricia who had managed to clean up some of the blood off of her. Odette took a seat, cleaned up the cut, and then used a suture to sew up her skin.

When Odette finished with Beth, she insisted that she go and lay down, get some rest. She helped Patricia clean up Beth's room, take away the knife that Beth had kept, and left the bedroom door wide open. When she finished, she went outside and heard the arguing of Lori, Maggie and Andrea.

"Oi! There's no point in arguing now. Whatever happened, happened. There's nothing we can do to change that." Odette said as she leaned against the rails of the porch. Maggie nodded and sighed in rage.

"I don't want any of you ever near my sister again." Maggie snapped as she headed back inside.

"What did you say to her anyways?" Odette asked.

Andrea sighed and shook her head, "I told her about what happened with me and Amy, the CDC opting out and what it felt for everyone telling me that what I was thinking, that opting out was wrong. It doesn't matter now. She made her decision. She wants to stay." Andrea said.

"It wasn't the right call to make." Lori pressed.

"Will you shut up? What do you know anything about being morally right?" Odette snapped. Lori raised her brows and was shocked.

"Excuse me?" Andrea smirked and went to go and stand beside Odette.

"She has a point you know. You don't get to make a call about what's right and what's wrong." Andrea said. Lori clenched her jaw and growled in rage.

"You have no idea what I've been through." Lori defended.

"Oh what? Reuniting with your husband, your son still alive from being shot, a baby on the way. You're living a life of luxury compared to some of us. Stop thinking about yourself all the time." Odette snapped.

"Luxury? You think this is luxurious? I thought my husband was dead-"

"But he isn't-" Andrea cut in,

"Carl was shot and needed surgery-"

"Whose still alive-" Andrea added.

"You two, are just so ungrateful. So jealous." Lori snapped as she left for her tent.

"Ooo, mean baby mama." Odette muttered before heading back inside to check on Beth despite Maggie's warning.

* * *

It was late and it was dark. Shane managed to get everyone together for Lori's sake. Odette was the last one there in the dining room of the house. She was busy tending to Beth for most of the day while Hershel was out, making sure she didn't do anything further drastic in her mental state.

"Who the fuck are we watin' for?" Daryl groaned leaning against the wall? "I ain't got time for this shit."

"Can't we just start without her?" Andrea asked, "Daryl's right it's getting late."

"Who are we waiting for?" T asked.

"Odette." Dale answered. Daryl piped up just the slightest.

"Thought she went out with Rick and chinaman." Daryl said.

"She's been tending to Beth all day." Andrea said, "I can go ch-"

"I'm right here guys." Odette said as she entered the room. "Where's Lori?" She noted as she scanned the room. Everyone looked at each other and Shane's eyes grew wide.

"Stupid woman. Has anyone seen her? He asked.

"She asked me to watch over Carl earlier. Didn't tell me where she was going." Andrea said. Odette and Andrea locked eyes, there was a huge possibility that she left cause of what they said to her earlier.

"She probably went after Rick an' chinaman." Daryl mumbled crossing his arms over his chest.

"One of the cars are missing." Carol said as she looked out the window. Sure enough, Maggie's car was gone.

"Jesus Christ. I'll go after her." Shane said. Odette shook her head.

"You're not going anywhere on that leg. I'll go," Odette offered. Shane scoffed.

"What makes you any more capable?"

"Cause I've been working and living with this leg for seven years." Odette answered dully.

"Shane should go," Andrea said, "What if something happens to Beth while you're gone?"

"She's right." Dale said. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She muttered as she swung her cane around.

* * *

Shane had left in one of the cars to go and look for Lori, who like Rick and Glenn had been gone for hours. Beth had fallen asleep, and since Odette had been watching over her all day, Patricia insisted that she go and take a breather. Odette took the offer, and sat under one of the big oak trees near the house. Her back was leaned against the trunk of the tree, her left leg was stretched out, and she was playing with her cane in the dark. Today had been exhausting, there was no denying that. But, just because she wasn't monitoring Beth for the time being didn't make it any better.

To be perfectly honest with herself, she was worried about Rick and Hershel and Glenn. Though she had always been fond of the old veterinarian and the young pizza delivery boy, Rick was different to her now. Even though she still thought of him as some naïve cop, he (in her opinion) had really grown through all of this. He didn't just care about his (cheating) wife or his (almost emotionally dead) son, he was a man of his word (most of the time) which was something that she really did like about him.

As she continued to sit and anxiously wait for the arrival of anyone (actually she just wanted Rick, Hershel and Glenn to come back) She heard the sounds of someone approaching her. And, she knew just who it was, Daryl. She had barely seen all day, which didn't bother her all too much, it was just weird due to the fact that they did see each other at least once every day.

Daryl sat beside her, not bothering to say hello. She didn't mind though, he was a man who kept to himself. He was reserved.

"Ya watin' for 'em to come back?" He asked after a while of a comfortable silence. Odette nodded.

"Yeah. Just Hershel and Glenn and Rick though." She said. "Lori and Shane are just sticky beaks." She muttered.

"The fuck is a sticky beak?" Daryl asked. Odette sighed and nodded.

"Sorry. You don't speak Oz. It means 'a nosy person'. " She clarified.

"Olive Oyl asked me ta go after 'em." Daryl said after a while. "When I told her to leave me alone she called me selfish." Odette scoffed.

"She's one to talk." Odette muttered, "Andrea and I had a go at her this afternoon." She smiled, "Ya should have seen her Mate, she was pissed." She said with a small smile. "Probably cause she's all pregangsty now." She added. Daryl furrowed his brows.

"She's pregnant?" Odette nodded.

"Yeah I know! I was wondering why she looked bloated." She muttered.

"Boy. That's a shock." Daryl muttered. Odette raised a brow.

" Now the real question is, whose kid?" She asked herself. "Boy, this is a really weird conversation." She mumbled. It was quiet again.

"I thought ya were gone." Daryl said breaking the silence again. Odette narrowed her eyes.

"Why would you think that?"

"When Lori asked me ta go after 'em. She said that no one had seen ya all day. That ya might have been gone with 'em." He explained. Odette sighed and pursed her lips.

"Oh." She said softly, "I was with Beth all day actually."

"The blonde chick? Hershel's youngest?"

"Yeah. She woke up from her coma and then tried to kill herself." Daryl didn't know how to respond to that. The topic of death had always been one of the ones he tried to steer away from. His childhood was definitely no picnic.

"Good thin' she didn't. Hershel would have killed all of us." He said.

"No kidding ."

Things were quiet again. Things definitely weren't awkward, just weird. Odette felt as if they had always managed to keep a conversation going. Today, it seemed as though none of them even bothered to try, which was fine with her.

Soon, Daryl and Odette saw headlights from afar heading towards the farm. The question now, was who was back. Odette sighed and crossed her fingers.

"Please be Glenn, please be Glenn…" She repeated softly.

"It ain't Glenn." Daryl butted in.

"Shit."

"It's Lori and Shane." He said.

"Ew." She cried sighing. "Can this day get any worse?" she asked herself.

"Hey Sheila," Daryl said, "Ya might wanna go check up on her. She if she's okay." Odette scrunched up her face.

"This day is getting worse. Thanks for that Daryl." She said as she pulled herself up, "You hoon." She added walking off towards Shane and Lori. A small smile tugged at his lips.

* * *

_**A/N: Apologies for the wait, I know this chapter isn't worth it, but the next ones will be better, I know this one ended up being more of a filler and I'm sorry! **_


	9. IX

**Born to Die**

**Part IX**

When Odette woke the following morning, she woke to tapping on her car window. Odette groaned and rolled her eyes, covering them with her hand.

"Get up! Hershel's back!" Odette heard T-Dog yell. "He needs you for surgery!" He added. Odette awoke and sprung off of the backseats in her car.

"Really?" Odette opened the door in a hurry, knocking T off of his feet. "Sorry!" She said as she helped him off of his feet.

"Yeah." He said rubbing his backside, "Someone's injured. Hershel needs you to help with the surgery." He explained. Odette's eyes went wide.

"Oh my God! Who is it? Is it Glenn?"

"No. Some new guy. Go. He's in the barn with Patricia." He said. Odette nodded and headed towards the barn without her cane.

* * *

When she entered the barn she saw an unconscious teenage boy lying on a stretcher table. Hershel began laying out the necessary instruments that were needed for his surgery. Odette felt hesitant about being in that barn. She hadn't been in there before (for obvious reasons) but, now she knew that this was the place where Hershel had kept his walker homies. As she looked around, she saw in the balcony above a bed made out of haystraw. By the looks of it, it was where Sophia had spent her days and nights.

Odette washed up her hands, and took a mask from Hershel. She placed it over her mouth and tied her hair back in a bun. She examined the unconscious patient and narrowed her eyes. His calf was bleeding heavily, by the looks of it someone had been stupid enough to yank something sharp that pierced his leg. Probably Rick.

"Jesus. What happened?" Odette asked.

"I'll tell you all about it later. But, right now we need to fix him." Odette nodded.

"He'll have nerve damage, that for certain." She said. "We need to clean up the blood, use the bovie to cut off blood from his veins." She explained.

"What about the nerves?" Hershel asked.

"It's risky cause we don't have the proper equipment. But, we could try to stitch the inside, the tissue and the skin. Use the bovie and a lighter to cauterize it. We could align the nerves and veins exactly when we stitch it back up. But, chances are that he will have permanent damage." She explained. She eyed and picked at the wound slightly.

"Lets get to it then." She said.

* * *

A few hours later they had finished with the teenage boy. Odette and Hershel left the barn, and Patricia made something for him to eat. He was left in there, which Odette didn't like at all. She wanted him in the house so that he could rest up properly, but Hershel refused.

Everyone met in the dining room of the Greene house. It seemed to Odette that the spot had become the official meeting place. Odette leaned against the wall with Daryl beside her. The two of them did seem a little more distant than before ever since they were together behind Odette's car, but none of them really minded all that much. It wasn't like they needed to be attached at the hip 24/7.

"So, who is the bloke you brought?" Odette asked breaking the silence. "Better yet, who was the drongo that pulled something out of his leg?" She muttered.

"Will you stop with the Aussie?" Shane snapped. Odette raised a brow and shrugged.

"Sorry you were looking at me and saying things – I wasn't really listening." She sassed. She averted her eyes to Rick and Glenn, "About the thing in the barn?" She dragged.

"His name's Randall. We were attacked by his group, and we fought back. His group left him behind and we took him in to fix his leg." Rick explained. Odette raised a brow.

"How did he hurt it in the first place?" She asked.

"Leg was poked by a spear in one of the fences. Rick was the '_dongro_'— Glenn was cut off.

"Drongo." Odette emphasized.

"Whatever. Rick was the one that brought him here." Glenn finished explaining. Odette nodded with a shrug and yawned.

"Rick? You were stupid enough to bring him here? What if his group comes after us?" Shane yelled. Odette raised a brow.

"Do you keep a wad of candle wax in your ears?" She heard T stifle a laugh, "Rick just said that his posse left him to _die_." She said slowly. "I said it slowly enough so that you could understand." she added. Shane rolled his eyes and gave her a death glare.

"It'll be fine. Once he gets back on his feet, Shane and I will take him and leave him far away from here with a canteen." Rick said. Odette narrowed her eyes.

"Have you been smoking one of your sheriff hats? You're gonna leave him on his own and give him the Jimmy Choo?" Odette clarified.

"What does that even mean?" Carl asked.

"Later Skater." She answered.

"What?"

"_Gone_." She answered. "If you were just gonna leave him out there by himself why did you even bother bringing him here?" Odette asked him. Shane sighed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," he muttered, "But I agree with the drug addict." Shane said to Rick.

"I'm gonna let that one slide." Odette muttered.

"You could have just left him." Shane said, "He'll die out there anyways! Why'd you bring him here?"

"So he could have chance." Rick said calmly.

"He would have had a better chance if you just left him there!" Shane yelled. Rick yelled back trying to reason with him, and everyone else looked at the two of them unsurprised. It was pretty normal for them to have constant go's at each other.

"Oh look. Paris and Nicole are fighting again." Odette commented. "Well, if this is it. I'm leaving." She said.

* * *

Odette was in the Greene farms stables. She sat on one of the benches and watched the horses. She'd only ever been on a horse three times in her life. And ever since her accident, she had been afraid of riding one again. She still liked horses, even though they were never any of her favorite animals. They were however what she would call, trustworthy.

The blonde left her cane on the bench, and headed towards the horse. She approached him from the side so that he could get a clear view of her. She then traveled to the front and began to pet at its nose.

"Havin' fun?" She heard the familiar voice of a stubborn redneck and shrugged.

"Kinda. He's a cutie though that's for sure." She cooed as she rubbed his nose.

"What was up with the kid?" Daryl asked as he took a seat down on the same bench that Odette was just on.

"Spear on the fence shot right through him. Like one of your arrows that you were hit by."

"I didn't hit myself with 'em." Daryl clarified. "Jus' happened ta have stabbed me." He muttered as he began playing with her cane.

"Whatever. Point is he's gonna have permanent nerve damage for as long as he shall live."

"Fucking sucks." Daryl muttered. Odette nodded.

"Yeah I guess. But he can still walk." She said. "I just find it stupid how they're gonna leave him for bait out in the bush." She muttered. Daryl shrugged.

"Might have been better for Rick ya know? That he didn't leave a person ta die, he helped him before he would." He answered. Odette shrugged.

"I don't agree. Besides, his plans gonna backfire anyways." Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"What's that supposed ta mean?"

"Means that every time when he comes up with a plan it never falls through. For example, you guys going back to get Merle—"

"Don't bring my brother in ta this." Daryl warned. Odette nodded,

"Sorry. Then there was the CDC, Fort Bennington, Sophia, The walkers—the list goes on. That's all I'm trying to say." She said. She left the horse and walked back to the bench to sit near Daryl.

"Besides," she added. "The fact that Shane's gonna go with him is a fact that things wont go smoothly." She said as she leaned against the arm of the bench. It definitely wasn't comfy, but she knew that Daryl would have kicked her off the bench if she went to go and lean on him. Whatever, it was just the kind of person he was.

"Well who else is gonna go with him? Chinaman?" Daryl asked. Odette shrugged.

"I can name lots of other people who would be more suited for the job. Glenn—who is Korean by the way, not Chinese—"

"Like I give two fucks." Daryl muttered.

"T, Andrea, Maggie, Me, You." She said. "Not every thing's limited to officer Jackass." She said.

"Why me?" Daryl asked. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Cause you hoon. You have skill." She said. Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"The fuck is a hoon?"

"An idiot." She replied with a smirk. Daryl narrowed his eyes and glared.

"Shut up."

"Did they stop?" Odette asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Shane and Rick? Yeah."

"So they're really gonna leave him out there." She mumbled. "Their practically killing him."

"Ya heard what Rick said. His group'll probably come After him. Ya really want 'em ta attack this group?" Odette picked at her nails and shrugged.

"Who said they'd attack? What makes you think they'll even come back for him? Didn't Rick say that they left him?"

"The world ain't what it used ta be. Outa everyone I woulda thought ya woulda known that." He stated. Odette scrunched her nose and sighed.

"The worlds still the same. We're just surviving differently." She said. "It not that different."

"Well maybe not ta someone like ya." Odette narrowed her eyes.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snapped. Daryl growled and rolled his eyes.

"There ya go again. Not everythin' I say is meant ta be an insult."

"Well then. Maybe you should start phrasing your sentences differently." She said with a smirk.

"Maybe ya outta stop taking things so personally." He retorted.

"Is it my fault that I have a bit of a temper? No! And you're one to talk, you're even worse than me. You're like totally bipolar." Odette raised a Brow.

"I am not." He said sternly. Odette smirked and shook her head.

"Give it thirty seconds," she smiled and got up and Daryl gave her cane back, "which honestly doesn't bother me all too much." Odette pursed her lips and cocked her head. Before she left, she managed to quickly plant a quick kiss on Daryl.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry, I know this chapter is pretty short, but the next one is a lot longer; trust me! Anyways, I remember waking up this one morning seeing all of the notifications I had on my phone about the latest follows, favorites and reviews and i was ecstatic! Thank you so much guys! :D **_


	10. X

**Born to Die**

**Part X**

A few days later Odette was approached by Rick. In his hands, she found a map of the area, and with him were Shane and Daryl. That could only mean one thing, Randall.

"We need your help." Rick said as he lead her to the porch of the house. Odette nodded and began swinging her cane around.

"With Randall." She added.

"Yeah."

"I don't wanna be a part of this." She said upfront. "This isn't what I think we should do. You brought him here, you should let him stay."

"That's not an option! He could be dangerous!" Shane tried to explain.

"Well then maybe you should have left him in town. You wouldn't have to go through with this. And what about the walkers in the barn?" She said walking off. Odette entered the RV where she found Andrea at the table.

"Hey." Andrea said as she took a dead across from her.

"Sup." she popped the 'p'. Odette sighed and placed her chin in the palm of her hand with her elbow on the table.

"What's got you all pissed?" Andrea asked.

"I'm not pissed. I'm infuriated."

"Who was it this time? Lori or Shane?"

"Actually, Rick." Andrea raised a brow, "Yeah I know. He and Shane and Daryl are planning where they're gonna give him the boot."

"Why are you so protective of him?" Andrea asked. "Its not like you know him or anything. Do you?" Odette shook her head.

"No. It's just- why would he even bring him here to fix up when he was gonna leave him on his own anyways? Doesn't make any sense." She muttered.

"You know Rick. It was probably just easier for his conscious and ego to bring him here." Andrea said shrugging. Odette smiled slighting.

"Daryl said the same thing." She noted. Andrea smirked and cocked her head.

"What's going on between the two of you anyways?" She asked as Odette felt a paint blush faint onto her cheeks.

"Er- nothing to report. We're just friends." She said quickly. She didn't want people getting the wrong idea about them and she knew that Daryl would kill her in cold blood if she said anything that hinted towards them. Though he had never officially said that he didn't want anyone to know of them as of yet, it was clear to Odette he didn't wish for it to happen anyways.

"Friends. Uh huh. Like Lori and Shane?" She raised a brow and smirked. Odette rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No just friends. I trust him, like you and Dale and Glenn and Maggie. Besides, I'm not one to hook up." She added. Andrea smiled slightly an leaned back in her seat.

"Well. Okay. Whatever you say."

* * *

The following day Rick and Shane left the farm with Randall. Odette was furious, and Daryl could clearly see that along with everyone else at camp. She sat with him in his tent with a new book from Dale. Stephen Kings Carrie. A classic modern day horror novel and one of her favourites, but she couldn't focus on the book. Her eyes drifted from the page taking it ten minutes for her to read a page. So far, all she managed to process was the fact a seventeen year old had gotten her first period in the showers after gym.

Daryl sat across from her cleaning his arrows and making new ones using his knife and the wood from the wood house. He kept glancing at her, to see how she was holding up.

"I can't believe it! His plan hasn't backfired yet." She snapped. Daryl eyed her and rolled his eyes. Sure it was fucking annoying for him, but he got used to it.

"Will ya shut the fuck up for two goddamn seconds?" Daryl growled. He rolled his eyes and sighed as he got back to his work.

"Are you seriously not appalled by it? You know he's not much older than Maggie." She added.

"I know yer upset. But what good is whinin' about it every two fuckin' seconds gonna get ya?" He growled.

"How many of those do you plan on making?" She asked him after a long ten minutes of silence which consisted of her gazing at the redneck before her.

"Dunno. Many as I can." He said shrugging.

"Can I do one?" She asked.

"If ya want." He said shrugging, "ya gotta knife?" He asked. She nodded and began to leave the tent catching Daryl's eyes before she left.

"I'll be back. I'm just gonna go get it." She explained.

She left his tent which had been farther away from Camp, and closer to the wood house her he liked to hang out. Odette headed towards her car. She opened the dashboard and pulled our her red Swiss Army knife and headed back.

By the time she had gotten back to Daryl in his tent, he had started another. Odette cocked her head and sat back down in her corner of the tent.

"You're getting fast." She noted. Daryl smirked.

"I have talented fingers." He replied smugly causing Odette to roll her eyes as she reached for a piece if wood. "Ya even know what yer doin'?" He watched Odette try to shape the wood.

"Er- sorta. I can sharpen my pencil with one of these." She muttered. Daryl rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Hate ta break it ta ya, but it's not the same." He said. He left his spot in the tent and moved beside Odette.

"You're actually willing to teach me?" Daryl shrugged.

"Not like I have anythin' better ta do." Odette rolled her eyes.

"That's one way to put it." She muttered.

"Ya wanna learn or not?" He asked annoyed.

"Yeah sure." She muttered. Just as they were about to start. The two of them heard yelling from over at the farm.

"The fuck is it now?" She hard Daryl growl.

Odette shrugged and watched as he headed outside to see what was up. In the meantime, Odette tried to teach herself how to carve out an arrow. So far, all she could do was a make a jagged spear.

She sat by herself for a few minutes, and soon those minutes got longer. Annoyed at Daryl for ditching her she was cross. Odette grabbed her things and headed back to camp to go hang out in the RV. So much for spending time together.

* * *

When Daryl went to go and see what all the yelling was about, he was surprised to see Rick and Shane back with Randall still with them. That caused him to think back what to what Odette had said earlier about his plans always backfiring. Now, they could add Randall to the list.

"The hell happen' ta ya?" Daryl asked as he saw the blood and scars and bruises over the faces of Rick and Shane.

"We had a minor problem." Rick answered as Shane gave him a death glare.

"Minor? Randall's still with us! We ran into walkers! Look at us man!" Shane yelled.

"Daryl," Rick ignored Shane's glares, "we need you to help us move Randall into the barn. And, we need you to help us get some answers outta him." Daryl nodded and took a look behind him at his tent, then back at Rick and Shane.

"Let's move that son of a bitch." Daryl muttered.

* * *

Odette spent most of the afternoon with Andrea inside the RV. The two of them slowly started to grow a stronger bond- easily enough to say that she was her 'best friend' in camp. Even though they had a bit of a jagged history, both of them were able to put that behind. The two of them never really liked helping out with laundry or with cooking ( but Odette pitched in anyways), so they hung out by keeping watch or hanging out with Dale.

When Dale had finished his watch shift Andrea and Odette took over. Andrea sat on the lawn chair atop the RV with a pair of binoculars, and Odette sat beside her with Dale'e riffle in hand. They kept conversation going, talking about their life before all of this. Andrea found Odette's life to be rather hard, yet interesting, and Odette found Andrea's life full of comfort.

It had been hours since she had last seen Daryl. Odette hadn't even seen him while she was keeping watch along with Rick and Shane. She didn't worry about Paris and Nicole all too much, they were probably still dropping Randall off in the middle of nowhere. She wasn't concerned about Daryl too much, everyone knew he was more than capable in taking care of himself, despite the fact that he had a an accident not too long ago. She was just curious. Odette narrowed her eyes, cocked her head and sighed.

"Oi," she called getting Andrea's attention who, was picking at her nails. "Do you know if anyone's gone into town for a run or something?" Andrea scrunched her face and shook her head.

"Not that I know of. Shane and Rick have gone out—other than that I have no clue." Odette muttered an 'Oh' and sighed. "Was there someone you were asking about in particular?" She asked raising a brow.

"Er—Daryl, I guess." She mumbled as faint blush tinted her cheeks. Andrea shook her head and smiled slightly.

"Why am I not surprised. You shouldn't worry too much. Probably just out hunting." She said shrugging.

"I wasn't worried. Just curious I guess." She corrected.

"Okay, seriously, what's going on between the two of you anyways?" She asked leaning over to Odette, "Have you tapped that yet?" She asked softly with a smirk. Odette rolled her eyes and bit her lip and shook her head.

"No. I haven't. I don't plan on doing so anytime soon. We're just friends. Seriously, nothing else." She stated.

"Fine. Whatever. I just thought you of all people would be getting laid and hit on by guys despite the fact that the world has gone- might as well call it super nova." Odette cocked her head.

"Um, what's that supposed to mean?" Andrea raised her brows surprised.

"What do I mean? You're hot. There's no denying that." She stated. Odette laughed and shook her head with a shrug.

"That's what you think. I think what drives most people away, is the fact that at twenty-eight years old, I walk with a cane and shove pain killers down my throat like a newborn sucks on its moms nipples. Not to mention I have a huge scar on the side of my face."

"Your scar isnt that bad. Barley noticeable, I didn't see it until you pointed it out. How did you get that limp anyways?" Andrea asked with a serious tone. "C'mon, I'm not the only one that wants to know." She added.

"Well who else does?"

"Everyone!"

"Oh well I-"

"Guys!" Andrea groaned when she heard T interrupting them, "family meeting!" He joked.

"We're keeping watch!" Odette called back to him.

"So then move your ass and get down here! Now!" He shouted. Odette sighed and grabbed her things.

"He's gotta work on his yelling. Should learn how to shout like Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen." Odette muttered.

* * *

Daryl walked out of the barn with his crossbow slung across his shoulder, and blood on his hands. He had spent the last little while 'talking' with Randall. All in all, he should leave. Odette might have been right about his group leaving him, but they were bad people. He probably was too.

T-Dog was back at the barn keeping watch. Daryl saw everyone huddled up near the shed farther away from camp, closer to the cars. He glanced over at the RV and saw that no one was taking watch. Hershel and his family were with the camp as well. Obviously this was about Randall. He knew Odette wouldn't like it one bit. Then again, after what he had just heard about him and his group she probably would have a change of heart. Unless she was being the stubborn bitch that she was.

He locked eyes with Odette giving her a nod which she replied with a shrug. Clearly, she didn't know that Randall was back. However, she did notice the blood on his hands causing her to narrow her eyes. She glanced at the barn and then back at Daryl. Instantly she knew what was up.

"This is about Randall isn't it?" Odette piped up breaking the silence.

"How'd you know?" Glenn asked.

"I'm not your stereotypical dumb blonde." She sassed, "What did you do to him?" She asked Daryl even though she already knew the answer.

"Had a bit of a chat." He muttered. Carol looked appalled.

"So you resorted to torture?" Carol added.

"Daryl did what he had to do." Shane said.

"What did you find out?" Rick asked.

Daryl lowered his gaze and started biting on his thumb. "Was with a group. 'Bout thirty men. Heavily armed with automatics. If they come through here we'd be dead—" he paused and glanced over at Odette, Andrea, Carol, Beth, Maggie, Patricia and a pregnant Lori—" And our women would wish they were." He said.

"What are we gonna do now?" Maggie asked softly crossing her arms. "Are we gonna let him go again?" She asked Rick, just as he was about to open his mouth, Shane interrupted him.

"No. We gotta do what we gotta do." He said. As much as Odette hated agreeing with Shane, he was right. But, not _everything_ had to end in blood. That bit she was sure of.

"Shouldn't killing him be our last priority." She stated—didn't ask. "There's gotta be some reason why you decided to bring him back." She added. She eyed Rick and Shane as everyone stayed silent waiting for one of them to answer.

"Said he knew Maggie. Went to school with her." Rick answered. Maggie narrowed her eyes and looked lost in thought. She didn't know a Randall. Then again—collage and high schools were full of people.

"That true Maggie?" Hershel asked. She shrugged.

"I don't remember talking to a Randall." She admitted.

"Said that he knew that yer ol' man was a vet." Daryl said.

"Lotta people do. Many people have farms out here, My Dad helped out with animal health." It was silent again.

"Killing him is the plan?" Andrea repeated.

"What? We can't do that! This is a young man! A person's life!" Dale said, "We shouldn't kill him! Our humanity is the _only_ thing that separates us from those walkers." Odette nodded.

"I'm with Dale—"

"Course you are." Shane muttered. Odette narrowed her eyes and pointed her cane at Shane's chest, watching him tense up immediately.

"I've had just about enough of you." She snapped, "And I swear to God I am so close to actually snapping at you. And you have no idea what I'm capable of." She shouted. For a second, she could have sworn she saw a slight look of fear in Shane's eyes, but that only lasted for a second at the most. She gave him one last death glare before storming off towards the dock, leaving everyone behind.

"I'm gonna go see her." Andrea muttered running off after her.

* * *

The two girls had dipped their feet into the pool of water as they sat on the dock together. Odette didn't talk, though she didn't showcase her rage out towards Andrea, she knew that Odette was still pissed.

"He's really getting under your skin huh." Andrea noted. Odette rolled her eyes and pulled her honey locks put of her bun, letting it fall in layers midway down her back.

"You have no idea. If I were in a room with Bin Laden, Hitler and Shane and had a gun loaded with two bullets, I would shoot Shane Twice." She snapped causing a small to spread across Andrea's lips.

"You've watched the office?" Andrea asked remembering that reference. Odette nodded and smiled.

"One of my favorite comedies. I thought Toby was actually really cute, Michael and Jim and Dwight and Andy I thought were always hilarious." She said.

"You really hate Shane that much?" She mumbled. Odette scoffed.

"Trust me, I think everyone other than the three stooges do." Things were quiet again.

"He asked me to leave with him." She admitted. Odette furrowed her brow and turned her head towards Andrea.

"Seriously?" She asked as Andrea nodded.

"Yeah," She bit her bottom lip and sighed, "He asked me again a few hours ago too." She admitted.

"Do you wanna go out there with him?" Odette asked watching Andrea sighed shaking her head.

"I don't know. I did before, you know, all of this. I—just like how stable this is compared to what we had before." She explained. Odette scoffed.

"Yeah, this is much more stable." She muttered sarcastically, "We can't keep ourselves together. We have no idea what we're doing." She muttered.

"There's something e—"

"Hey Andrea!" Both Odette and Andrea turned to see T-Dog walking towards them, "You're turn to keep watch over Randall." He said.

"I'll be there in a sec." She said, "I'll talk to you later." She addressed to Odette as she pulled her shoes back on.

"Be careful. I know he's locked up, but you gotta use your fingers in case something happens." Odette started to explain, in the meantime, T left while Daryl approached her.

"Don't you mean hand to hand combat?" Andrea suggested placing a hand on her hip. Odette shook her head and narrowed her eyes.

"No. I mean poke him in the eyes." She explained. Andrea scrunched up her face in disgust and fear.

"Poke him in the eyes? That's your technique?"

"No. That's yours. If that doesn't work you can take your thumb, jam it in his eye socket and twist till you hit his brain." She explained using her hands.

"That's gross." Andrea said as she left Odette and Daryl to themselves. Odette shrugged and eyed Daryl as he walked towards her, sitting down on the dock beside her.

"Ya know for someone who doesn't wan' the kid ta die, ya sure are barbaric with yer defense." He said. Odette shrugged.

"Just sharing the knowledge that I have." She said as she splashed her cane around in the water. "Besides, she's my friend. I'd rather her hurt that kid before he gets ta her." She added. She eyed Daryls outwear and raised a brow. "Isn't it a little too hot to be wearing a leather vest?"

"Heat aint unbearable." He said.

"Is it real leather?" Daryl nodded.

"Lasted me years. Was Merle's before, he gave it ta me few years back." Odette gave a small smile.

"I love leather. I once had this nice long coat that I got in Italy. It was black, heavy, came down just halfway up my leg, and it had leather cuffs, and a belt." She said. "More suited for winter, but it was still one of my favorites."

"I aint much fer fashion." Odette raised a brow.

"I can see that." She said. Daryl shrugged.

"Was a mechanic 'fore all this. Was gonna get dirty anyways." He said, 'May not have had the finest quality in anythin' but I never took it fer granted." He said. Oddete raised her brows impressed.

"Never knew you were the selfless type." She mumbled.

"Not the point. I knew everythin' could be taken away from ya in a second." They were silent again.

"Doesn't take a philosopher to tell you that now a days." She muttered. Daryl nodded and grabbed his crossbow getting ready to leave.

"Where're you going?" She asked narrowing her gaze at him.

"Huntin'. Wanna come?"

"You wouldn't mind?" She raised a brow.

"Look, ya wanna come or not?"

"Yeah- just don't expect me to catch anything."

* * *

The two of them walked through the forest bed in silence. They had spotted a raccoon from afar, and had been tracking it since. Daryl lead the way, he knew the woods better than anyone, and had good tracking skills as well. As per usual, he had his crossbow and knife with him. Odette on the other hand, just had her hatchet, a knife and her AK just incase (she had her own stash of guns hidden in her trunk) with its suppressor- even though the gun never fully muted.

"Stop!" She heard Daryl whisper. He pointed to the raccoon who had climbed up away in one of the trees. Daryl eyed his target quickly, and shot hitting it square in between its eyes. The animal fell from the tree landing on the forest bush. Daryl raced to go and grab it. He grabbed it by its tail and tied it up to a leash of string where there were a couple squirrels and rabbits. Evidently, the raccoon was the prize winner.

"So, now what? We go back?" She asked.

"I sure as hell ain't in a rush ta get back. You?" He asked. Odette shrugged.

"No. Not really." She muttered. "Do you think we have a enough?" Daryl smirked.

"Damn right Sheila. If we're lucky, this'll last us at least two days." He said.

"I've never tried raccoon before." Odette said as they headed deeper into the woods.

"I have. Don't taste as bad as ya think." Odette raised a brow.

"So grocery stores here in Georgia sell raccoons?" She asked. Daryl shook his head.

"Naw. Had ta eat somehow. Mum died when I was young, Dad paid no attention. Bastard was an alcoholic. Merle helped out when he wasn't in Juvie. Had ta eat, so I taught myself how ta hunt." He said. Odette didn't know how to respond to that. She knew what it was like loosing a mother, she lost her's a few years later after her Dad had died.

Her Mum had Huntingtons, and the disease got the best of her. After she had passed, her siblings and her had taken tests to check in see if the genetic disease had been passed down to Them. It was bittersweet, she and her older brother were clean, but her younger sister wasn't so lucky. She had been going through years of experimental treatments that Odette and her brother helped pay for. She hadn't died from it yet, but she had no idea if she was alive now anyways.

"Sorry to hear about your Mum." Daryl shrugged.

"Was hard. But it was kinda her mistake." Odette cocked her head furrowing her brows, "She liked ta smoke in bed. One day I was out playin' with some of the neighborhood kids. Merle was gone. All the other kids had bikes, I didn't. Watched them ride and chased after 'em. Then after runnin' a few blocks ma friends all looked at me with horror. I didnt know what was up. Ran further up ahead saw that ma house had burned down." She was shocked. His parents, by the sound of it never paid attention to their kids, and with Merle being off in Juvie all the time it was evident. "Was a nice woman, was sad ta see her go." He finished.

"I lost my mum too. But it was about eight and a half years ago. I was twenty. She was sick and well- didnt make it." She said.

"Cancer?" Daryl asked looking her way. Odette shook her head.

"No. Huntingtons. Its a hereditary brain disease." She explained as she heard Daryl mutter a 'sorry' about her Mother.

Silence fell over them as they continued to hunt. Odette hadn't been feeling so well lately. She had a bit of nausea and her leg had become a bigger pain in the ass as usual. It had been years since she had been in pain this long. The walking had been a small factor, but the fact that she had decided to detox again was more of the bigger issue. It had been a few days since she had taken any Vicodin or Paracetamol or ibuprofen, she wasn't eating as much as she should have but because of the nausea she felt from detox, she thought it would be better to make a few more cutbacks. The last thing she knew anyone needed was for her to shoot herself in the leg, or break a bone on purpose to ease the pain coming from her leg.

Daryl had been keeping a close eye on her as they walked. She did look awful pale, and was walking just a tad slower than usual. He thought for a moment that it could have been the leg that was hindering her, but she had made it clear many, many times before that she was able to live and take care of herself either way.

"You ok-" Daryl was cut off by Odette yell at him.

"Behind you!" he turned to see a walker coming up behind him.

He took his knife and jammed the blade into its eye and yanked it out watching it fall dead onto the ground. He looked up ahead to see Odette limping her way over to two more walkers. She used her cane to push them both over on the ground, and then she used her hatchet to cut deep into its decayed skull. She looked up seeing no more walkers. Sighing, she picked up her cane and was disgusted as she noted some of the decay that was left on the end of her cane. It was then that nausea took over her. She covered her mouth with her hand, dropping her cane, and began throwing up by the trunk of a nearby tree. Daryl narrowed his eyes and watched as she gagged behind a tree. Unsure of what he should do, he headed towards her and stood behind her.

"Ya alright there?" He asked uneasily. Odette rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Peachy." She muttered. Daryl handed her a canister of water. "I'm fine."

"No yer not. Just drink it and we'll head back." He said sternly. Odette rolled her eyes, giving him a cold stare before taking the canister of water from it. She took a bit, making sure the lip of the canister didn't hit her lips. She handed it back to him.

"Thanks." she muttered.

"No problem." Odette gave him a small smile. "I'd kiss ya, but I ain't got time for bein' sick." He said. Odette smiled and laughed softly.

"Yeah, Because the fact that none of us have brushed out teeth with toothpaste for weeks didn't already gross you out."

"Ya mean ya brushin' yer teeth with a fuckin' stick?" He raised his brows and smirked.

"Shut up." She snapped grabbing her cane, brushing the decay off on Daryl's cloths.

"He-" She cut him off by pressing her lips onto his. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, and then used his other hand to push her cane away from in between, pulling her closer. Just as he was about to bite her lip, asking for entrance and pulled away causing Daryl to groan.

"Oh I'm sorry. I don't want you to get sick." She mimicked giving him a smirk.

"Damn it Sheila." He muttered.

* * *

_**A/N: Told you this chapter was longer! I hoped you guys liked it. Mind you that for me school is starting again real soon and I am not looking forward to it at all. So, for that reason, I may or may not be updating as fast as I am now. I'm actually pretty pleased with myself about this story, I would have forgotten about this and left it long before, but all of the views and follows and favorites have really inspired me to continue. Anyways, Thanks again guys! **_


	11. XI

**Born to Die**

**Part XI**

When they reached the farm, Odette was immediately approached by Dale. Daryl left, leaving the two of them alone to go and talk to Carol, showing her the game that he had caught.

"Somethin' that matter?" She asked Dale. He sighed and nodded.

"For yes. They're gonna kill him,' _him _obviously meant Randall, "I know everyone wants him killed. But Rick's letting me talk to everyone, to convince them to let him live." Odette nodded biting her lip and rubbing her leg.

"Er—Do you mind if it sit down?" She asked, Dale shook his head and watched as she sat down, stretching her left leg and rubbing it. The pain wasn't getting any better anytime soon. As stupid as it was, she wished that something would happen to her so that the pain would revert from her leg to something else.

"About Randall—"

"Oh right. Yeah sorry." She muttered, "My opinions been the same as before. He should live. He can't hurt us with that leg, that's certain. The group," She gestured for Dale to come closer, "As for them we'll be fine. Besides, I have some weapons in a hidden compartment in the trunk of my car. I've always kept some supplies in there." She explained. Dale raised a brow.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Your typical glock, two riffles, an Ak, an M72 and an AT-4. Lots of ammo with them too, and a laser and some cobra darts. You never know when they'll come in handy." She said softly. Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"How the hell did you get your hands on those?" He asked.

"Being in the Marines and CIA has its advantages." She said shrugging, "Look. You're the only one who I told. I did it cause I trust you. Please, don't tell anyone!" she pleaded. Dale nodded.

"Yeah. I promise. Hershel know?" He asked. Odette nodded.

"Yeah. He has a right to know." Dale nodded.

"Alright. Thanks for telling me this. Everyone's back in the house talking about the situation. Come on, lets go. They might be waiting." He offered his hand helping her up. "Are you okay? You don't look so good." Dale noted. Odette nodded.

"I'm fine. Actually trying to detox and it's not going too good." She admitted. "I'm running really low. Only a few capsules of everything." She added.

"Well. You're doing the right thing." Odette nodded.

"Yeah. But, I never knew it would suck so much." She muttered.

* * *

Odette sat on one of the chairs in the dining room beside Glenn and T-Dog. She remained quiet most of the time mostly because she knew that the people who wanted Randall dead, outweighed the people who didn't and, because the growing pain in her leg started to get worse and worse. Without even thinking, she pulled out her Vicodin and popped off the cap and looked in seeing only three capsules left. She sighed, closed it up, and moved onto her other two bottles, leaving the Vicodin on the table. Her ibuprofen had five capsules left, and she had only four paracetamol.

_Damn_. She thought, _I'm screwed_. She was so lost in thought she zoned out of the conversation that was happening around her. She didn't even hear Rick and Shane when they had addressed her several times. It wasn't until she had earned a smack on her arm from T-Dog when reality took over.

"What the hell!" she snapped giving T a scowl. He looked uneasy, but nonetheless pointed his fingers towards Rick and Shane. Rick was sympathetic as per usual, just stressed out. And Shane, surprise, surprise was unimpressed.

"Were you even listening?" Shane snapped. Odette shrugged leaning back in her chair.

"You tell me." She muttered. Rick put a hand on Shane's shoulder, signaling for him to calm down.

"You with Dale on not killing Randall?" She nodded.

"Yeah." She answered looking out the window behind Rick and Shane, her gaze landing on the barn. "That all of us?" She asked placing her right elbow on the table.

"Yeah." Rick muttered. Odette was appalled.

"Come on guys! He won't do anything." She stressed, Shane eyed her with his eyes narrowed.

"What makes you so sure about that?" He asked, his voice showing more curiosity than criticism.

"Cause, he already knows we don't trust me. He's given information about his previous group-"

"Could be lying." Lori butted in earning an eye roll from Odette.

"Usually when people give information while they're being tortured, means that they're willing to cooperate. He wants to stay, to live and it's been made evident. He has to earn our trust, and he's been trying to get us to trust him." She explained and everything went quiet until Daryl spoke up,

"If we'd let him stay, he'd just be another mouth to Feed." He added.

"So? What about the parasite growing inside of Lori?" She earns hard stares from Rick, Lori and Shane," it's gonna be eating a whole bunch, plus be crying 24/7. I think a newborn would be more of a hindrance than a young adult." Odette said.

"Look, kill him or not, I don't wanna be a part of this." Carol admitted covering a side of her face with her land.

"Not speaking up is the same and letting him die!" Dale protested.

"We could have an escort for him." Andrea suggested,

"Who'd wanna do that?" Shane asked.

"I would!" Dale exclaimed earning a look of annoyance from Rick.

"No one is gonna escort him." Rick stated.

"How would you kill him?" Patricia asked. Odette looked over at Dale disappointed.

There was no winning with these people. They were all so narrow minded around people they didn't like. They had gone looking for Merle once, gave up on Sofia, and now they wanted to kill someone cause they were afraid he would cause trouble. It was bullshit. They just wanted the easy way out of every little thing. Unfortunately for them, survival would mean sacrifice, not a slip.

"Been thinking about that. Shooting him would be the most humane way to do it."

"Killing someone isn't humane." Odette muttered. Dale was appalled and lost for words yet again.

"Are you all gonna watch too?" Dale said as he turned his back to everyone ready to leave. He put his hand on Daryl's Shoulder before heading out the front door.

"You're right. This group is broken." He said, and then left. Odette hit her lip and looked at everyone in the room, she had to admit, Dale and Daryl were right.

Odette cleared her throat, grabbed her painkillers and her cane, then left as well following behind Dale.

* * *

She spent most of her afternoon with Dale after leaving the Greene house. She had become skeptical when she saw Carl stumble out of the woods looking somewhat shaken up. When she had gone to go and see what was up, he had back talked her in such a rude remark that Odette wanted nothing to do with the brat anymore. Whatever, his loss not hers. They never really talked to each other all that much.

Daryl had kept his distance from her. He was with Rick and Shane anyways getting ready to kill Randall. She was ashamed to think that everyone would want to restort this problem in such a manner. If they were able to somewhat negotiate about walkers in the barn, why not work the right thing out for him? It seemed to Odette that all Rick and Lori and Shane seemed to care about was about themselves. How they could benefit from everything, even if it meant taking away a life of a person who had done nothing?

Once night had begun to fall Dale insisted that she stay back while he left to go and check the perimeter of the farm, where the woods ended. She was hesitant at first about Dale leaving alone at night, but obliged anyways. She decided to turn in Early, before she heard the trigger pull.

She had killed people before, there was no denying that. But, just because she had done it many times didn't mean that it got any easier for her. Every time she was positioned to shoot the enemy, the earpiece that was placed in her ear always helped. Her commander was the one yelling at her and her partners to pull and shoot. Even when things became more private with her commander while she was still in the agency, her partner would make sure that the job got done on her part. It was killed, or be killed.

She opened the door to her car and fished out her sleepware unaware of Daryl heading towards her. He was awful quiet- had to be if he was a hunter. It wasn't until he had cleared his throat that Odette had noticed him. She turned and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why aren't you with the two other bogans?" She snapped forwarding her attention back to her things.

"Didn't do it." He admitted which in result ended up getting Odette's attention. She cocked her head and leaned against her car.

"Why? What happened?" She asked somewhat concerned. Daryl sighed and covered his face with his hands running them down his face.

"Carl walked in, encouraged Rick ta kill 'em." Odette raised her brow.

"What?" She always thought of Carl as a troubled kid, mostly cause of the excessive time he would spend with Shane. But, she never thought that he'd up encouraging a murder. Who would he become? Cesare Borgia?

"Rick couldn't do it after tha'." He finished. Odette nodded.

"With good reason." She muttered. Daryl sighed again.

"Loo-" Daryl was quickly cut off by a blood curdling scream.

Daryl bolted to the source of the cry, and Odette followed in suit behind him as best she could. Everyone else quickly dispersed as well, and then stopped once they heard the groans of a walker. Shane was quick to act, shooting it dead in the eye. The walker fell over, and everyone was able to see that it was feasting on Dale's torso. Dale of all people. Odette felt her eyes coat with tears just waiting to fall out, her throat began to close up. The feeling of losing Dale compared to others she had lost was different. He had been eaten by a dead decaying creature, everyone else she had been close to died without the pain of getting their insides torn up and eaten. What ached the most was the fact that Dale was still alive, suffering. And, there was nothing left to save him.

Odette watched the man suffer, crying out for help. She put her hand up to the side of her face and bit her lip, she couldn't cry. Not now.

"Sorry Bother." She heard Daryl mutter. He leaned down on his knees and pulled out his pistol. Everything was quiet, until the sound of the bullet shot. In seconds, Daryl was gone. He wasn't suffering anymore. He was dead.

"Let's carry him back. We can give him a proper burial in the morning." Rick said breaking the silence. Odette's eyes stayed glued to Dale's lifeless body.

"What about the walker? If it was able to come all the way out here than there must be more." Shane said. "I'll do a perimeter check." He said, "Andrea, Daryl you up for it?" Odette had rolled her tear filled eyes and started walking away. If she was gonna cry, she wanted to do it alone. Seemed more like a private thing anyways.

She opened the backseat of her car and slammed it shut as she climbed in. She fixed up her pillow, leaning it on the window of the backseat and the headrest itself. She pulled her throw over her body, and hugged her other pillow. She gave it some time, but in a matter of minutes she started to bawl over the death of Dale. Out of everyone here, he didn't deserve any of it. He wasn't meant to leave the world so soon. Should have been Shane, should have been anyone but him!

As she curled up and tried to calm herself she hugged her pillow tighter and tighter. Seemed to her as though it was the only thing she could hold onto anyways. Andrea, as close as they gotten over the past few weeks was pretty unstable and unpredictable. Glenn, as sweet as he was, and as much as Odette liked him they were never really that close. Maggie had her family and Glenn. Carol was an emotional train wreck. Everyone knew that Daryl wasn't one for comfort and to show compassion, but what she wouldn't give for him to be with her. She wanted him here with her anyways.

Or Brie, or even Elliot. Even her cat! But they were long dead.

The only thing she had left to remind her of a life she could have once had was Daryl. He was out doing Shane's dirty work. She knew it was important that they keep the area safe, but anyone else could have gone too. Rick could've, Glenn could've, they both had loved ones who still had the support and comfort from their family. Odette didn't. Was she jealous? Hell yes.

They had each other, and Odette was stupid enough to go on a trip to Miami with Brie before all the shit started. She should have stayed at home in Manhattan with her brother and already dying sister. But she wasn't. She had wanted to go off and look for them, but Brie had held her back, Dale had too, even Merle; who she had never really talked to, made her stay put. But That was a month before things got this bad, before they lost people.

Minutes of sobbing turned into hours. That was the third time in years in which she had cried herself to sleep.

* * *

After a few hours into the night, the trio returned back to camp. Things were quiet between Andrea and Daryl for obvious reasons. But Shane didn't look the least bit upset. Not that it was new anyways. The man was a bastard. Hated Dale for always wanting to do the right thing.

On their hunt they had come by a few walkers. Not as many as they had expected. Even when they had decided to split up and cover more ground, Daryl only came across one. That caused him to wonder and think as to how only one walker made it to the camp.

"How many did you kill?" Shane asked breaking the silence again. Daryl found it annoying, no one wanted to make small talk whether it was important or not. It could wait till they got back to the farm.

"Two." Andrea replied in just barely a whisper. Shane waited for Daryl's reply, and growled when he didn't revive one right away,

"Daryl." Shane said agitated. He rolled his eyes before answering,

"One." He muttered.

"I found two." Shane answered, "Was expecting more of a herd." He added. Andrea nodded.

"We all were." She said. Daryl paid no attention, he just wanted to get back to the farm as fast as he could. It was a pretty long and tiresome day and he was ready to get some sleep.

When they got back to the farm, he saw Maggie and Glenn moving Dale's body carefully close to their own graveyard where they would bury him in the morning. T and Carol were atop of the RV keeping watch. Carl, Lori and Rick were probably together. Hershel, Beth and Patricia were back in the house. One thing for sure, they all had the same face. Full of shock and remorse.

When he didn't see Odette anywhere he knew where she would be. Hiding away from everything in the back of her car. It annoyed him like hell, she couldn't hide away from the world forever. This is what it had become.

When he went to go and see her he saw her figure pressed up against a pillow. He could faintly see some of the tears that stained her cheek, despite it behind dark. He eyed her for a bit, unsure of what he should do. Wake her up see if she wanted to spend the night with him in his tent? He was about to knock on the glass and ask her, but decided against it. She was already asleep, besides, he wanted to be alone too, he was hurt as well.

He headed back to his tent and pulled the unzipped covers of go sleeping bag over his body. He lay awake most of the night, replaying the image of him shooting Dale in his mind over and over.

* * *

Hours into early evening, dawn at the most, Daryl heard the rustling of branches and leaves from inside his tent. Instantly he acted thinking it was a walker. Grabbing his crossbow, he left his tent an aimed pointing it in the direction where the trees moved.

What came out wasn't a walker. It was Odette, looking like a mess. Her hair looked all tangled and messed, her eyes were read and her cheeks were splotchy. Obviously she had been crying. He put his guard down and sighed rolling his eyes. Odette narrowed her eyes at him before giving him a scowl.

"What gives." She muttered. Daryl watched her leave to go back to car, the noted the AK she had in her hand.

"Thought you were a walker." He explained. She scoffed.

"Oh I wish." He heard her mutter. "Went to go pee." She explained. Daryl narrowed his eyes looking straight into her chocolate orbs.

"Yeah. Sure you were. Look I know yer upset like when Brie died-"

"Someone's catching on." She muttered.

"What's up with ya? I know yer sad, but why the hell are ya angry? An' why the fuck are ya taking it out on me!" He yelled, not caring if he woke some people up. It was their problem, not everyone else's.

Odette clenched her jaw and looked at him in complete and utter rage. She had just about enough of him. The whole world knew that he wasn't prince charming material, but in a world like this would it really kill him for even being a little compassionate? As soft as a Dixon could get anyways.

No. Of course not. Because in a world like now, people and walkers killed people.

"I'm not gonna deal with this now. I'm tired, and I'm going to sleep." She snapped. As she walked passed Daryl, she felt him grab her wrist and pull her back.

"No. yer gonna tell me now." He demanded.

Odette had seen him angry before, but he was never angry at her. When she stood her ground and continued to glare at him, he growled and dragged her back to the woods. She could do it. Could easily punch him in the jaw, kick his groin or even pull out of his hold on her. Didn't take an Einstein to do any of those basic acts in self defence. But, she was tired, she was physically and emotionally strained. Dale was the only one who really kept a close eye on her, and she like it. Not in a perverted way, in a 'I care about you and don't want you die' kinda way, all in all, Dale was like a second father.

They were alone in the woods. As early as it was, the sun was still barely at the horizon. Winter was near for sure. Night and the moon were still at its peak and day by day it began to get chillier as autumn began to creep up.

Daryl pulled her AK out of her hand and let it drop onto a bed of leaves making Odette furious.

"What the hell!" She yelled as she started to reach down to grab it again.

Daryl wouldn't allow that, he pushed it farther away with his foot, and pushed her back against the trunk of a tree. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared her down with those piercing blue eyes...

"Ya gonna tell me why yer so pissed at me?" He snapped. She narrowed her eyes.

"What makes you think I'm angry at you?" her tone softened just the slightest. "If I'm angry at anyone its myself." She admitted muttering averting her gaze to her feet before looking back at Daryl who looked at her confused.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" he headed towards her slowly.

"Means that if I hadn't left Dale all alone to keep watch around the perimeter, he'd still be alive." She muttered softly, Daryl would barely hear.

"I aint heard a word ya said." he stated. Odette sighed and bit her bottom lip, her eyes filling up with tears again.

"He died cause of me." She stammered. Daryl narrowed his

"What? Naw. Ya were with me." He reminded slowly.

"You don't get it do you?" She narrowed her eyes at him, "I left him alone. I thought he'd be okay!" She started crying again, she slid down the trunk of the tree, not caring about the bits of bark that poked at her skin through her cloths.

"What?" Daryl muttered in shock, causing Odette to roll her eyes.

"Don't. Make. Me. Say. It. Again." She said fiercely.

"It ain't yer fault." He said quickly. Odette narrowed her eyes.

"You have to say that." She stated.

"No." He snapped, "I don't. I know cause ya were with me when it happened. Ya didn't drag that walker out to eat Dale." She placed her forehead in her hands, "That's what's been buggin' ya." He stated rather than asked. Hesitantly she nodded and wiped her tears off of her cheeks.

"Yeah." She mumbled biting her lip. "Outta everyone it shouldn't have been him." She whispered so softly so Daryl couldn't hear.

"Ya could've told me." Daryl said after a while of watching her cry. Slowly, he picked up her gun, and walked towards her sitting down across from her on the bed of forest leaves that covered the forest.

"Didn't want to." She muttered playing with the cuffs of her cardigan.

"It ain't yer fault." He said again, "There were barley any walkers over here anyways." He said, "Found five on our look. Anythin' could've attracted them here." He said.

"What? No one would be stupid enough to go into the woo-" She stopped talking and thought back to when she had seen Carl running out of the woods looking shocked. "Carl." She muttered, "Stupid twat." Daryl rolled his eyes.

"The fuck ya talkin' 'bout now?" He asked. Odette sighed and scrunched up her face.

"I saw Carl running out of the woods by himself when me and Dale left. Think he must've seen a walker." She explained. "He could have brought it to the farm." She added. Daryl stared at her, not sure what to think of the story.

"He's just a kid." He reminded her.

"Well yeah. But kids aren't as smart as they think they are. Let alone boys." She mumbled rubbing her arms as the atmosphere got chillier.

Daryl watched as she tried to warm herself up. He rose from the ground with the gun and his crossbow, and held his hand for Odette to take. She eyed it before taking his offer to help her up and handed the AK back to her.

"C'mon. Best get back." He said leading the way. Odette followed him back to camp walking slowly. The strain in her leg had gotten far worse. But now, she was determined to stay clean for as long as she could. For herself, and for Dale.

"Ya okay back there?" Daryl said as he had been glancing back at her every now and then making sure that she was still behind him. She nodded,

"I'm fine. Just tired." She replied.

When they got back to camp Odette kept walking towards her car as Daryl stood by his tent. He eyed her leaving, and decided that since she wasn't necessarily in her right state of mind, she might as well spend the rest of her sleeping hours in his tent.

With him.

He remembered the way she way she acted when Brie had decided to opt out at the CDC. She was a mess, more than now. They weren't as close as they were now back then, but everyone could see that the death of best friend had taken a huge toll on her. Dale was the one that was by her side, like a Dad. So, along with babysitting Andrea, he was watching her as well. Now that he was gone, it was Daryl's turn to step in. After all, they were '_dating_'. Which, was still pretty new for Daryl.

"Hey Sheila!" he called after her, she hadn't walked that far, so he didn't need to yell as loud, "C'mon over." He said as he gestured with his fingers. He watched her eye him suspiciously before walking back toward him.

"Yeah?" She asked slowly. Daryl bit at his thumb and kicked at the ground.

"Get in." He said. Odette was surprised.

"Um—what?"

"Get in the tent." He said again, "Ya shouldn't be goin' back ta yer car." He added, "Just bring some've yer shit." He said. Odette raised her brow.

"Are you sure?" he nodded.

"Just get in 'fore ya make me change ma mind." He said. Odette gave him a small smile.

"Yeah okay. Just, let me put this back." She said holding up her gun. Daryl nodded.

"Aight. Lemme come with ya." He said dropping his crossbow into his tent before he walked over to Odette's car.

_Maybe he does care more than I thought_, she thought as she followed him again.

* * *

_**A/N: So yeah! There ya go. Hope you enjoyed it, even just a little. Favorites, follows and reviews are much appreciated. Thanks again guys :)**_


	12. XII

**Born to Die **

**Part XII**

While Daryl took her gun and went to place it back in her trunk, Odette went to go and grab her things. In her hands she had her cane, her throw and two of the many pillows that were stuffed in the backseats of her car. She closed the door to find Daryl's eyes narrowed as he scanned the trunk of her car.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she came up behind him. His eyes were still fixated on her belongings.

"Can't find yer bag of guns." He replied. Odette's eyes widened just the slightest in realization. She forgot that she hadn't told Daryl about her compartment. She shoved him aside just the slightest and handed him her things.

He took them and watched as Odette shuffled through her crap. Once everything was shoved aside there was a small circular hole that cut into the fabric in the trunk. Odette hooked her fingers into it and lifted. In the bottom compartment of the trunk, Daryl saw all of her weapons, many guns, a glass cutter, darts and some lasers. Odette placed her AK inside as if it was nothing to be curious about, closed the top and closed the trunk. She grabbed her things back from Daryl and started to head towards his tent in the far outlines of the camps boundaries.

"Now hold on a second," Daryl said as he walked in step beside her, "Ya never once mentioned anythin' bout havin' a secret stash of guns." He brought up. Odette shrugged.

"I didn't think it was all that important. Besides, the last thing I would want is for there to be more guns around, especially now that Shane's acting like a pyromaniac." She explained.

"Makes sense." He muttered, "Havin' ta hide 'em deep in yer trunk is somethin' else though."

"Can never be too safe. Look, no one aside from Hershel and Da—" She cut herself off before finishing, "And you know about it. Please, don't tell anyone." She asked softly.

"Not a problem."

* * *

She set up her makeshift bed in her usual corner in Daryl's tent. She wasn't used to sleeping in a tent now that she had been so used to spending her nights in her car. She had slept in tents many times before, usually during stake outs and missions. A tent was kept in her trunk nowadays just in case, before she and Brie had joined up with the group, they survived together as they fled from Miami to Atlanta. It was then when they had gathered some essentials for survival.

"Yer gonna sleep in the corner all the way on the other side?" Daryl questioned as he played with his arrows and watched her set up her bed.

"Yes. Is that okay?" Daryl shrugged.

"I better not be able to smell yer feet while I sleep." He warned. Odette scoffed and turned to him crossing her arms.

"Says the man that that's covered in grime all the time." She shot back with a smirk, "Its gross."

"At least I don't smell as bad as yer feet do." The corner of his lips twitched into a smile.

"Shut up. I smell better than you. Women have less of an odor than guys. That's why the cologne they wear is always so strong." Daryl rolled his eyes and turned to his side, pulling the covers of his sleeping bag over his body. Odette stared and him and raised her brow.

"What? No goodnight kiss?" She sassed. Daryl turned his in her direction and narrowed his eyes.

"Ya want a fuckin' goodnight kiss?" She nodded with a small smile, "Then move yer ass over here. I can already smell yer feet." Odette rolled her eyes and sighed grabbing her things, and moving them to the corner opposite to her, beside Daryl.

"Hurry up. I can already smell your stank from the woods." She said sarcastically.

"This here blondie, is what a man smells like." He mumbled.

"No. That right there is what the cavemen smelled like." She said hugging her pillow to her chest, "But that doesn't mean it isn't sexy." She added with a tug of a smile.

"First ya call me gross now ya call me sexy." He smirked, "Look whose being bipolar now?"

Odette rolled her eyes and pressed her lips to his shutting him up. She could feel Daryl's lip twitch into a smirk as he pulled her closer to him, grabbing a few blonde locks. She wrapped one of her arms around his neck and the other around his chest. As the kisses became more passionate, Daryl bit her bottom lip asking for entry. When Odette kept her lips shut, but were then pried open by Daryl's tongue, clearly he wasn't a patient man. Nonetheless, Odette didn't mind. She let his tongue explore her wet mouth. Slowly, Daryl's hand began to creep its way down to breast. His hand cupped her left breast and then squeezed it, then prying her shirt away.

It was then that Odette pulled away. She cocked her head and gave him a small smile. Daryl narrowed his eyes and groaned shaking his head.

"Yer a stupid fuckin' tease ya know that?" Daryl muttered as he covered his face with his hands. "Goddammit Odette." He mumbled.

* * *

The following morning Odette woke up to an empty tent. There was no doubt about it; Daryl was an early riser than most. She gave a quick glance at the entrance flap on the tent and sighed in slight discomfort. Today was Dale's funeral. As much as she loved Dale, she hated funerals. Never did too well with them.

She had only first ever experienced a real family death when her Father had died many years ago. Odette was about sixteen-seventeen years old. It was hard for her and everyone in her family to process. She had been to the funeral of her only living grandfather before, but she was younger then and wasn't as close with him as she was with her Dad.

She remembered the grieving process that the family went to all too well. Her mother didn't want to talk about it with anyone. She would go to work early, come home late, and then shut the door to her bedroom and not come out till the next day when she had work again. There would be nights when Odette and her siblings would hear the muffled sobs of her Mother in the dead of night.

Her older brother was in university, studying to become a diagnostic doctor. He would work extra intern hours and be out late studying. Her younger sister would be out with her friends and her boyfriend. It seemed that everyone wanted to forget about the fact that he was gone, and that the best way to do so would also be forgetting about the family the once were.

So it was Odette that wanted things to remain as normal as things could be. She would still go to school, work part-time at the retail store at the mall close to the house and her school. She was the one who tried to cook a decent dinner for the family, even though they wold never enjoy it together.

It wasn't until her Mother had been diagnosed with Huntigtons that the family finally came together as best they could. It seemed to her that after the death of her father, her life and her family was never the same again. Then, the circle started all over when her Mother passed years later.

When Elliot and their son Connor died, Odette fell apart like she did when her Father and Mother died. She shut the world out, and Brie was the one that slowly started help her move on. But if there was one thing she learned through the experiences that she had with death, you never truly move on from something you were so attached to.

After brushing away a few tears that slipped their way out of her eyes and onto her cheeks Odette left the tent looking as presentable as she possibly could. When she left the tent, the first thing that caught her eye was Shane, Daryl and Glenn digging a hole for Dale's burial. She tore her eyes away from that. She didn't need and want to see that just yet. But the thought lingered in her mind, which led to the fiasco with Randall in the barn.

Without thinking, Odette's feet dragged her off to go and see the prisoner in the barn.

* * *

Daryl had finished digging Dale's grave. He wiped the small beads of sweat that mingled their way onto his forehead with the back of his hands. It wasn't even noon, and he was unusually exhausted. It wasn't just because he had dug a whole, he didn't sleep as much as he would have liked last night.

He had woken up from his sleep a few times cause of the woman sleeping beside him. It wasn't just because Daryl had learned that Odette was a soft snorer, it was because her small hiccupping cries kept him up. He was used to sharing the bed for a night with the woman he slept with, but none of them had been snorers, and none of them had been crying most of the night either. He knew that she was upset over Dale's death, he was too. But, it was her cries that reminded him of seeing his friend with his torso eaten out that bugged him. He was a man who had seen a lot in his life, but experiences like the one last night were something had had never come by before.

He headed back to his tent to get his crossbow for his morning hunt. When he tossed the flap of the tent over, he expected to see Odette sleeping there. But her makeshift bed was empty. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his crossbow. He didn't know where she was, but he had a hunch that she crawled back to her car. It wasn't until he turned around and saw the blonde from last night headed towards the barnhouse till he snapped.

"The yell do ya think yer doin!?" He yelled as he ran up to catch up with her. She turned and rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was for him to yell at her for going to see Randall.

"I'm going to go see Randall." She replied simply as if it were no big deal, her eyes started to rim with sudden tears, "Dale's dead. We could let h—"

"No. Ya know why we can't." He snapped. Odette sighed in rage and clenched her jaw.

"He didn't do anything wrong. Why does he have to pay for something that he didn't do?" She expressed.

"It aint 'bout what he hasn't done. Its 'bout what he's gonna do."

"And that would be?" Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"I'm tryin' ta protect ya from him."

"I don't need it. I know what I'm doing." She explained, "Just—leave me alone for a bit." She asked softly. Without waiting for a reply, she began walking towards the barn again. She didn't hear Daryl's footsteps, so he must have left her alone. Clearly, he didn't want to get too involved. He might have thought that it would be best to leave her.

* * *

She picked the lock by using the pocket knife she kept with her. It only took a few seconds, but like she had said before when she picked Beth's bedroom lock, a bump key would have been far more useful. She made a mental note about making one soon; you never know when it would come in handy.

The pulled the door open and then closed it gently. There was little light in the room, only the rays of sun that shone through two lone windows. Then, there was a young adult chained to the corner wall of the barn with a blindfold. Slowly, Odette limped her way towards him trying hard not to make a sound with her steps and her cane. The closer she got, she could see the movement of his lips. Was he praying?

Quietly, she sat before him with her legs crossed and her cane down in front of her. She didn't say anything for a while, she just watched him closely. Daryl certainly had did a number on him. There were scars and bruises all over his face, dried up blood, she could even make out a bit of swelling on his left cheek. There were bloody scars over his wrists from the handcuffs. It was evident he was trying to escape. He had every right, he was being treated as if he were accused of practicing witchcraft during the middle ages.

"Are you praying?" Odette asked breaking the silence after watching him for quiet sometime. Randall's lips stopped moving and he tensed up. His mouth was kept shut and he remained as still as he possibly could. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just trying to make conversation."

"—Y—you aren't the r—redn—neck a—are you?" He clarified. When he spoke, Odette could tell that he hadn't been given any water or food for days.

"No. I'm not him… stay here." She said quickly as got up from her seat, "I'll be back." She headed off before Randall could ask her anymore questions.

She headed over to the RV as fast as she could, trying her hardest to ignore Dale's freshly dug grave. She found some scrambled eggs from breakfast and filled up a glass with water. She was careful to be as quiet as she possibly could to bring it back to him unnoticed by unwanted eyes. That meant everyone except her.

When she came back, she untied the blindfold that covered his eyes and picked the lock on his handcuffs. She placed the food in front of him and gestured towards it,

"Here. You need to eat." She said. "I didn't do anything to it." She added pushing the plate of food closer to him. Hesitantly, Randall eyed the food and Odette and finally he took a bite of the eggs, chewing slowly as if he were waiting for something to happen. Once he felt the same he ate the fast.

"Thank you." He muttered wiping his mouth with his sleeve when he finished. Odette nodded.

"Not a problem. You don't deserve this." She explained.

"But they're gonna kill me anyways." He added. Odette shook her head.

"No." she said firmly, "I won't let that happen. I can get you out of here." She said, "I'll let you out. Tonight. But you have to promise me that you'll never come back here, and you won't tell anyone about this place." Randall scoffed.

"Two cops tried to leave me out all alone a few days ago. What makes you think you could do any better." He eyed her leg and her cane. Odette held her head up high and glared at the kid.

"I'm not a cop. I know what to do." She bit her lip before sighing. "I have to go. I need to tie you up again." She said softly, "I'll come back tonight." She said.

* * *

After tying Randall back up and hiding the plate and glass in the bushes of the woods nearby, Odette left to go back to camp. No doubt about it, the funeral was to start soon. She wasn't going to miss it even though it would be hard for her to face reality that one more person she cared about was gone. Now, she just had Andrea and Daryl.

As she headed back to the RV she saw Daryl come out of the woods with his crossbow slung over his shoulder and some game tied to his usual net of ropes. She eyed him for a second before turning her heel towards him. She sighed and locked eyes with him, trying to tell him that's he was sorry for whatever it was she did. Daryl gave a nod and slight cock to his head.

Together they walked side by side in silence to Dale's long awaited funeral.

* * *

It was a small simple ceremony like the others. But this one meant more to her than the previous ones. This was the death of her eaten friend. Things like that never happened on a day to day basis like before. But now it was as common as seeing shoplifting in big cities.

Rick didn't do any justice to the man's eulogy. No one here knew Dale like Odette did. She stood in the back leaning on her cane with Daryl by her side. Throughout the program Odette's leg started to tingle in pain more and more as the seconds progressed. It was horrible. Her hands became pale from clutching onto her cane so hard, her face became pink from the crying she had been doing. Even Daryl noticed. He kept glancing back and forth at her making sure she was alright—even though he knew she wasn't. But, he would confront her about it later.

When the funeral ended everyone took one last glance at Dale's grave before dispersing. It wasn't until Hershel spoke up that everyone froze.

"With winter just around the corner, I would like for y'all to move your things inside. You shouldn't stay out here during the cold." That certainly lightened everyone's mood just the slightest. They didn't have to leave. They didn't want to either.

While everyone went to go and gather their things to move inside Odette stayed behind and sat in front of Dale's grave. She stared the earthy ground and let a few more tears of pain and sorrow fall down. Careful not to make too much sound, She pressed her knuckle to her mouth to stop the muffled sound from leaving her lips.

"I'm really sorry…" She cried in a whisper over and over, "Out of everyone here you were the one that didn't deserve anything…" She felt a large warm hand press itself to the small of her back. She knew it was Daryl's.

"C'mon." Was all he said gruffly as he pulled her up, "Go get yer things. We're movin' inside." He said.

Odette bit her lip and let a few more salty drops fall from her eyes. Daryl sighed and pulled her along with him to his tent. He wasn't one to show much affection, but he knew he needed to do something to let her know that he was here, that she wasn't alone. He kissed her head of hair and pulled her into a hug, and let her know it was okay to cry… just not over him all the time. He would have to tell her that later.

* * *

_**A/N: Hahahah Guys hey! Remember me? Sorry for the long wait. It actually really wasn't supposed to take this long. In fact, I had a great chapter written, but then when I was going to upload it my laptop went wack. So when I took it to the apple store and they had to reset everything which meant wiping it out! In result all of my work was deleted, so I had to summarize the chapter fast cause I know it needed an upload. I know excuses don't get you anywhere in life, but I figured you guys had a right to know. Besides school has been a pain in the ass, too much homework. To make things worse I have math first semester. Ew. **_

_**Anyways, apologies for the long wait and the crappy chapter. I hope the next one wont be too bad and too rushed. And thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews! I get so motivated when it happens! :) **_


	13. XIII

**Born to Die**

**Part XIII**

"Ya took ma corner." Odette turned around to face the redneck gone soft. He eyed her with slight concern as he leaned his weight onto his crossbow that stood aground. Odette shrugged and continued with setting up her camp inside the Greene house.

"You snooze, you lose." She muttered.

"Jesus Christ woman." He muttered as he kneeled down beside her. "I'm try'n ta left yer spirit a bit." He said, "Ya can't keep blaming yerself for what happened." He added. Odette sighed and bit her bottom lip, rolling her eyes just the slightest.

"Daryl," She said sharply, "I know you mean well, but please. I just want to be left alone." She snapped dropping her things and turning to Daryl. "Just—don't bring it up again." She warned. Her voice croaked a little and eyes started tearing up again.

Odette didn't want to be around everyone else any longer. She grabbed her cane, and her painkillers and left the Greene house.

"Women" Daryl muttered as he watched her leave.

On her way to see Randall again at the barn house, Odette stopped at Dale's grave. She kneeled down in front of it and sighed as she pulled out her painkillers from the pocket of her worn out cardigan. She clutched onto them and hesitantly pulled the cap off of her ibuprofen. A capsule fell out, and just as she was about to place it in her mouth, she stopped.

_Dale never liked my addiction._ She thought. It was true, no one did. But it eased the pain she felt every day.

"Dale wasn't the only one who hated that." Odette turned to see Maggie waking up towards her, "Daddy really hates seeing what you're doing to yourself." She added. Odette didn't say anything.

"I'm in pain." She replied simply letting another tear fall down her cheek.

"You've been taking a lot more of those ever since Dale. And, it's only been a few hours." She added.

"My leg hurts."

"Are you sure this 'overdose' is more emotional than physical." She asked raising a brow. Odette sighed and stood up grabbing her cane.

"My leg isn't crying, Maggie. It's hurting." Maggie rolled her eyes and grabbed Odette's hand.

"Come with me."

Maggie took Odette down to the dock by the small pond. She sighed and turned to Odette, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If there's one thing I've noticed about you it's that you're too hard on yourself." Maggie pointed out. Odette didn't bother turning to her, she stared at the scenery up ahead.

"What makes you think that?" She muttered. "I'm not too hard on myself." She added.

"You can't fix everything."

"I never said I could."

"Actions speak louder than words."

"You barely know me." Odette said sharply, "Why take interest in me know?" She asked.

"I know you were the one that everyone into the CDC, I know you were the one who looked after T-Dog, I know you were the one that helped Beth, I know you were the one t—"

"There's nothing wrong with helping." Odette said cutting her off. Maggie shook her head.

"No, there isn't. But you can't seem to ask for it, can you?" Odette clenched her teeth.

"I don't need help. I'm fine!" She snapped, glaring at Maggie.

"Throw them out." Maggie said after a long awaited silence. Her eyes averted to the painkillers in Odette's pocket. "You'll run out eventually. Might as well stop now." Odette broke down.

"Don't you think I _know_ that?! Don't you think I've _tried_?!" She pulled out her painkillers and them down on the deck in rage. "Do you know how hard it is for me admit that actually have a problem? My life has been no picnic because of my fucking leg! My stupid life choices!" Odette kicked the medicine and it rolled down the dock into the water.

"Y—"

"Maggie! Odette!" They both turned and saw T calling out for them. With him were Daryl, Rick, Andrea, Shane and Lori. "Come on! Randall's gone!"

Odette was confused. She had promised to get Randall out of the barn tonight, soon. But she hadn't gone to see him since the morning. Was it possible that he had taken advantage of her kindness and had found a way to get out of there himself? No. Because if he was that smart and quick on his feet, he would have escaped long before. Clearly, someone else had let him out.

Odette fell into step beside Daryl, but said nothing. They caught another's gaze, and let it go at that. Daryl noticed her tear filled and red rimmed eyes, and the tracks of her tears down her cheeks, but let it slide. He would corner her about it later and make her spill the beans, and if Odette snapped at him for doing that, well then it would be best if it was done in private. None of them wanted a scene.

"Over here!" It was Shane who directed them to the chained door that Randall managed to get himself out of. Odette narrowed her eyes at the scene unfolded in front of her.

The door was open, the chain was unlocked, not cut. The leaves on the ground didn't look flustered enough for someone who was on the run to break out of and run. No signs of forced entry from inside or outside.

Someone let him out, and it was obvious that someone was Shane.

"See! The kid broke out of here!" Shane said to everyone, Rick in particular who had been investigating more than necessary, and yet was not able to put the puzzle together properly.

"There are no signs of forced entry, his cuffs are still chained, and the door was unlocked from the outside. Someone let him out Shane, he didn't get out of here on his own." Odette explained as she twirled her cane around. Shane turned to her and glared her down, but Odette kept her stance. She wasn't afraid of some psychotic moron with an overgrown testicle for a nose.

"Yeah? And who do you think is retarded enough to let him out?" Shane asked.

"You." She answered plainly.

"You fu—"

"Shane!" Rick barged in and held onto his arm, "Control yourself brother." As the words left his lips, it only sounded forced to Odette. Besides, who the fuck would ever want Shane as a brother? It was possible his own mother didn't even take as much interest in his as Rick, Lori and Carl do.

"Are you blaming all of this on me?" Shane yelled. Odette nodded and furrowed her brows.

"Yes." She said again. Shane was furious.

"How do I know it wasn't you? I saw you walk this way in the morning." He accused. Odette nodded.

"Yeah that was true."

"So how do I know it wasn't you who let him out?" Odette rolled her eyes.

"Cause we had people guard, dumbass." She muttered. "And the last person keeping watch was you."

"FU—"

"Stop! Stop this now!" Rick intervened yet again. He looked towards Daryl and Odette and sighed. "You two, go back to the house. Lori, you as well. T-Dog, Shane, Andrea and I will look for Randall." He ordered. Odette rolled her eyes and started walking back to the house before Saddam Hussain could dictate the rolls in their tribal lives even more.

* * *

Back at the Greene house Daryl and Odette locked themselves in the small main floor bathroom that was by the stairs. Daryl leaned himself again the wall opposite to the toilet where Odette said with the lid closed. Though the house was big, it was too small for all the people living in it now. Aside from the master suit and the bathrooms there was nowhere private for someone to be alone.

"Ya seem more pissed off than usual." Daryl noted. Odette shrugged and pursed her lips.

"Life sucks. Why not be pissed?" She muttered sighing. "And this new set up erks me." She added. Daryl nodded.

"I can relate ta that." He agreed. Slowly, he left his back fall from the support of the wall, and he slid his back down so he could sit on the bathroom floor.

"Why are you sitting on the bathroom floor?" Odette asked slightly disgusted. Daryl narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

"I aint wearing tahari. Old worn out cloths. I don't give a fuck If they get dirty." He said sighing. Odette smiled just the slightest.

"Ooh. Look at you. I had no idea a redneck like you would even know what tahari was." She admitted. Daryl shrugged.

"I aint that stupid."

"You keep telling yourself that." Without thinking, Odette reached inside her cardigan pocket and began fishing for her non-existent painkillers. She pulled out her hand empty, which caught Daryl's eye.

"No paracetamol?" He questioned. Odette sighed and shook her head.

"No. They're all gone." She muttered. Daryl furrowed his brows and eyed her closely.

"Did ya finish all of 'em that fast?" Odette shook her head.

"No. I got angry and threw them into the pond by the dock." She explained, "Part of it had to do with Maggie." She mumbled.

"So, yer clean?" She nodded.

"This detoxing is going to be hard to get out of." She admitted with a weak smile. Daryl's face didn't show anything.

"Are you going to be okay? I mean last time you threw up. It was disgusting." He reminded.

"I'll be okay. Besides, people before were drug addicts too, and they recovered."

"And then died." Daryl added.

"People die everyday now. From dead people. It's like a new plague." She muttered.

"You don't look so good." Daryl said in a serious tone. Odette rolled her eyes.

"Neither do you. And I don't need a constant reminder that I look like a patient on chemo." She snapped.

"Your hand is shaking."

"Its normal. Daryl, don't worry. At least if I die I won't turn into a walker." She said. Daryl looked at her with a cold look.

"Don't talk like that."

"Why not? It's the Circle of Life with a plot twist." She said with a small fake smile.

"Don't joke about dying. I don't like it."

"Well you better get used to it. You have to get used to it."

"It aint that easy."

"I never said it was easy. Dying is easy Daryl, living is hard." She mumbled, "It doesn't take a philosophical scholar to preach that." She tore her gaze away from Daryl and bit her bottom lip, playing with her fingers on her cane.

"Ya make it seem like everything in life has an answer."

"It should. Life should be logical... We just make it seem more complicated than it needs to be." Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"I never thought in a million years ya'd be a quitter." Odette could instantly tell he was disappointed.

'I'm not." Daryl furrowed his brows.

"It don't seem like it anymore." He said. He took one look at Odette, before sighing and opening the bathroom to leave.

Alone sat the girl which the world and her emotions had finally broken.

* * *

_**A/N: Hey Guys! Remember me? So sorry for such a long in this update. These past couple months have been very tough and stressful on me. I lost one of my best friends to suicide and i'm still coping with that, school has been stressful; my math isn't going so well. Im preparing for my Midterm in math and english next week as well, and on top of that I have my extracurricular activities.**_

_**I know that this chapter really wasn't worth the wait. Not so much OC/Daryl, more like Character development. Sorry about that. :P**_

_**Anyways, thanks so much for the follows, faves and reviews! Please, keep them coming! They really brighten my shit ass days.**_


End file.
